What a fun evening we had tonight. Michelle (our new friend) owns a little restaurant near our hotel in Hue. She left Vietnam when she was 18 years old to marry a Chinese man from Hong Kong. He has since passed away and now at 70 years of age she has returned to Hue where her two sisters also live. What a character she is! She is full of great advice and truth be told....she has every right to give it. She may be 70 but she honestly looks 20 years younger. Her prescription for a healthy life is 2 litres of water every day, walk one hour/day, and don’t eat too much meat! I’m pretty sure that she is also pretty good at incorporating laughter into her days as well....we sure had plenty of it tonight as she dressed us up in Hallowe’en hats and masks. She even was feeding Lynda her dinner at one point! Yes....it was an evening filled with laughter.
We’d met Michelle earlier in the afternoon when Gail, Lynda and I had stopped in there for a little refreshment. She was so sweet that we just had to go back for dinner! In the afternoon she had gifted our table with a plate of dried sweet potatoes and tonight she gifted us with some pork loaf, some pomelo (similar to grapefruit only better), and some delicious little cookies. Our meal was fried noodles with lots of veggies and they were done to perfection. Just the right amount of spice and not greasy at all. And....they cost just 25,000/plate ($1.50 CAD)
This morning we wandered over to the tallest building in the city...the VanTom building I think it is called. It is home to a high end hotel and shopping centre and many many offices. It is also home to a Vietnamese car manufacturer that will be bringing out their first car and SUV next year. From the hotel lobby, We took the one elevator that goes all the way to the top...the 34th floor...where there is a SkyView bar. We had planned on having coffee from that vantage point but the place was packed so we just checked it out, took a few pics, enjoyed the views, and caught the elevator back down.
I still had a hankering for a coffee and so Darlene joined me at a little local restaurant while Gail and Lynda set off on another shopping spree. I enjoyed one of the best iced coffee’s I’ve had and the cost of it was just 17,000 dong (about $1 CAD). It was lucky that the SkyView bar was packed! If I’d had my coffee up there it likely wouldn’t have been as delicious and the price would have been at least $6 USD.
Once back at the hotel we all enjoyed some down time. Perhaps we’re still a little overheated and tired from yesterday’s marathon of wandering around ruins and climbing stairs under hot hot hot sun! I spent some of my down time in the hotel spa where I took advantage of the hot and cool jacuzzi as well as a session with a very skilled reflexologist. I was able to book during their “happy hour” promotion so even got 20% off my bill. :-)
Tonight we went back to the jacuzzi again as it is free to hotel guests between 4-7 pm.....and yes.....I had to put on a wet bathing suit! But it was worth it. :-). Those jets in the jacuzzi are pretty powerful and the minerals in the water are supposed to be good for pretty much anything that might be ailing you. The water comes from 2000 meters below ground under a mountain near here. It is heated by volcanic lava and you can tell it is filled with minerals because you can smell them. Not to say that it smells bad....just that you can smell the minerals.
Speaking of smelling things....when I arrived at the spa for my treatment I was welcomed with a moist towel that was scented with lemon grass. It smelled so good I almost refused to give it back to them! They also greeted me with a cup of cinnamon tea that they’d made on site. They explained that they steeped cinnamon sticks for a minimum of 1 hour and then added lemon grass and ginger to finish the tea. It was strong but delicious and refreshing. Yep...standing in that cool jacuzzi with the jets working their magic....sipping on my cinnamon tea.....I was pretty much in heaven. :-)
So now here we are....finishing up our final day in Hue. We’ve made arrangements for a private car and driver to take us to Hoi An tomorrow. We’d considered the train but because there are 4 of us to split the cost, it is about the same price for us to take the car and it will be so much simpler than having to haul luggage and get taxis etc. As well, our private car will be able to stop whenever we want a photo or to stretch our legs (about 200km of our journey tomorrow is said to be the most beautiful stretch of road in Vietnam).
The trip is flying by! It’s hard to believe it’s been 3 weeks since we left home. Just 2 more weeks and we’ll have to say good bye to two of our group and that will also mean that Lynda and I have reached the 1/2 way mark of our time here too. They say time flies when you’re having fun so we must be having a lot of it!
Till next time,
Darlorlyngai
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