What’s it like to travel to Hue, Vietnam?
Last week, I said goodbye to my bunny rabbit and left for Vietnam for 6 months.
My flight to Ho Chi Minh City (AKA Saigon to the locals) was long, with an 8 hour layover in Tokyo, Japan. My one-way ticket was dirt cheap, but I spent so many hours at the airport eating (out of boredom, often enough) that I might as well have bought a more expensive ticket with no layover. But the food was bomb!
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
I stayed in HCMC for a night, walking the streets and spending time with old friends. In this video, you can see what the streets look like down there. It’s freaking hot! But the fruit is absolutely delicious:
My Flight to Hue, Vietnam
The next day, I flew to Hue. My flight was about $50 USD – not bad! The PA system was mainly in Vietnamese (usually Vietnam is pretty good with using English) and when the boarding station was changed at the last minute, I was lucky enough to have made friends with the guy in front of me. He’s an engineer based in HCM, visiting his family up in Hue.
He snapped this photo for me:
Arrival in Hue
I got settled in Duc Tai 22 Guesthouse for something ridiculous like 6 or 8 dollars a night.
It’s right near the city center. There’s plenty of cheap food (and a Buddhist temple!). Here’s the Google Map: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Duc+Tai+22+ghesthouse/@16.4617021,107.5864413,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m8!3m7!1s0x3141a13854a8b8f7:0x6fe28658002d03ff!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d16.461697!4d107.58863
What’s Next?
I start work next week, so I’ve been preparing my materials. The English school to which I’ve been hired was kind enough to send PDFs of all our textbooks.
The weather is amazing here. I left New York in the winter to find myself in a subtropical paradise (it feels subtropical – it’s breezier here in Hue City than in Saigon).
And I’ll be sure to check back in and update my Vietnamese journey as often as possible. Till next time!