Chapter III. Hue
Day 7 The Temple of Gloom
After a peaceful night – NOT (binge drinking in the car up ahead) in the overnight train, we arrive in Hue. Looks like the sun is not going to meet us here either‌
When we leave the train station, it’s only drizzling. Maybe, we’ll be lucky after all. We get a cab to our hostel. Still not raining. We will only stay a couple of days in Hue, so we shouldn’t waste time anyway. We walk straight to the Citadel and buy plastic ponchos on the way just in case. To get to the Citadel, you need to cross a long bridge. The drizzling, combined with the strong winds, is enough to get us both drenched. And we’re not even inside the Citadel yet.
On the other side of the bridge, it’s still a long walk before we find the walls of the Citadel. From there, we have to cross one more bridge and we finally arrive at one of the main gates.
Once inside the walls, we follow the moat until we reach an entrance. Unfortunately, this one is the exit. We have to walk all the way back to find the right gate.
See the flag? That’s the entrance.
This is the entrance where you buy your tickets. Hue’s Imperial City is one of Vietnam’s most important historical landmarks. For more than a century (from 1802 to 1945), its thick walls protected the royal capital of the Nguyen dynasty. It’s also located in a strategic position near the DMZ that divided North and South Vietnam during the war.
The Citadel has suffered a lot during all these conflicts, especially with all the bombing and shelling. Some buildings are still pretty impressive, but about the 160 that once stood inside the Citadel’s walls, only a few have survived. What used to be an impregnable fortress and the home of the royal family is now nothing but a shadow of itself.
And the increasingly pouring rain doesn’t play in its favor either.
Choose wisely, for as the true Grail will bring you life, the false Grail will take it.
If you have time, you can learn about the history of the Ngyen dynasty.
The young Emperor Ngyen
The Flying Brigade (codename: Dragonfly)
This was probably the Emperor’s playground.
The turtles are my favorite.
And the golden dragon, of course.
Oh what a day ! What a lovely day !
Once we’re done with the main area, we decide to explore the surroundings. But you can’t just hop in from one place to the next - because of the moat.
Also, what the map doesn’t tell you is that many gates are shut. But we only realize it once we’re facing one. So, we have to walk a long time to figure out where to go.
After going in circle for so long, we’re soaking wet. But we’re not the only ones.
Cool dragon statues, funny hedges shaped like a giant turtle, and now an English phone booth in the middle of a temple, there’s enough here to keep our spirits high. But it’s already close to 2pm, we’re starving, and the rain doesn’t show any sign of stopping. So we take the first ride out of the Citadel and come back to our hostel to change clothes.
Apparently, the Emperor was known to be a foodie and a bit of an eccentric when it comes to food preparation (I read that his tea had to be prepared with the dew collected from the leaves every morning).
As such, Hue is known for having some of the best food in Vietnam. If we can’t visit the city, let’s have a food tour instead.
First, we try a Japanese restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet. The food is alright and the cheap beer tasteless.
Then we go sit in a cafe nearby. I mean that we sit inside a cup of coffee.
We stay inside for 1hour and when it looks like the rain has stopped, we go out and look for a place to have dinner.
Another recommended restaurant, another average meal. This one is vegetarian but they are almost out of everything. I ordered fig salad, but figs in Vietnam don’t look at all like the ones I know. They taste more like some crunchy, bitter melon.
It doesn’t rain continuously. It’s more like strong April showers. But don’t get caught at the wrong time or you can kiss all your non waterproof stuff goodbye. I wanted to explore the ruins nearby on a scooter, but with this rain it’s dangerous and pointless. Quinn suggests that we should take a cooking class tomorrow. She’s right. Better look on the bright side of life…
According to our hostel, the only place that offers them is only two blocks away. We get there and book one class for tomorrow afternoon. On the way back, I’m still hungry.I stay behind and I order a take away pizza.
When I get back to the hotel, it’s raining. But it’s also raining inside the hall. I can see water running down the stairs and people mopping the floor. From what I understand, the room next door to ours is flooded. Nothing to worry about according to the owner. Sure… I put all our bags on chairs and tables for the night…just in case.
Day 8 Gods of Cookery
This morning we can finally sleep late for the first time. When we wake up, it’s lunchtime. We walk down the street and try a new restaurant. This one is excellent - with very attentive staff.
Roasted duck with passion fruit sauce, fresh mint shake, and complimentary spring rolls. The perfect way to start the day.
We were supposed to start the cooking class at 2pm. But no one shows up before almost 3pm. They were buying ingredients at the market all morning - we decided to skip this part because of the rain.
Our teacher speaks English well –albeit with a thick accent. We’re five students today (Quinn and I, and three girls from Czech Republic). We’re going to cook 4 dishes.
1. Hue Beef Noodle Soup Put 500g of beef bone and 100g crushed lemongrass in a pot with water. Add 2 tsp of chicken powder and cook for 1h with low fire.
1. Hue Beef Noodle Soup Put some onion, 1tsp of pepper, 2tsp of fish sauce, and mix together in the pot. Boil 5 min more.
1. Hue Beef Noodle Soup Cut the beef in thin pieces and cook it for 1 min by putting in a spoon inside the soup.
1. Hue Beef Noodle Soup Finally, put some noodles in a bowl with some spring onions. Add the meat and pour the soup in the bowl. You can add chili and fresh vegetables as well.
2. Hue Beo Steam Cake Put 5tsp of rice flour, 1/2tsp of tapioca flour and 1tsp of water in a bowl. Stir and keep it around for 20-30min. Chop a fresh onion, fry it until it gets yellow, and take it out.
2. Hue Beo Steam Cake Boil shrimps for 5 min. Once they are cool enough, take out the shells.
2. Hue Beo Steam Cake Crush the shrimps into a paste.
2. Hue Beo Steam Cake To make the shrimp powder, stir fry (no oil/no water) until it’s dry.
2. Hue Beo Steam Cake Put a little cooking oil in small bowls. Put the bowls in a steamer for 1 min. Put flour in each of them and steam for 3min. When the cakes are white, they’re ready. Take them out. Put the shrimp powder and fried onion on top of them.
2. Hue Beo Steam Cake Finally, put 5tsp of fish sauce, 5tsp of shrimp soup (the boiled water of the shrimps), and some sugar in a pan. Cook it. Pour it over the cakes when you eat them.
3. Hue Fried Pancake For 1 pancake: Rice Flour, Shrimp, Pork, 1 Chicken Egg Bean sprouts, carrot, mushroom Chicken powder, sugar, veg. oil
3. Hue Fried Pancake Put 1tsp of rice flour in a bowl with 1 egg yolk, 1tsp of chicken powder, 1/2tsp of sugar, and 2tsp of water. Mix together in the bowl.
3. Hue Fried Pancake Fry the pork and the shrimps for 3 min. Note: if you cut the meat too thin before you fry it, it gets dry too fast.
3. Hue Fried Pancake Put some veg.oil in a pan, wait till it’s really hot. Pour some mix flour in the pan. Fry for 1min.
3. Hue Fried Pancake Put some oil on the batter, then turn it over in the pan.
3. Hue Fried Pancake Take the batter out of the pan. Put the fried shrimp, pork, bean sprout, carrot and mushroom (we also added 1 quail egg) in half of the batter. Close it.
3. Hue Fried Pancake Fry with some oil for 5min. When the batter is crispy, get it out.
3. Hue Fried Pancake You can add peanut sauce. Grind peanuts into powder, add fried sesame seeds, and put in a bowl with 1tsp of peanut butter, 1tsp of chicken powder, 2tsp of sugar, and 1tsp of fish sauce. Mix well with half a bowl of water. Chop garlic and onion and fry until yellow. Add the sauce and cook for 5min.
4. Royal Fresh Spring Rolls Cut cabbage, carrot, mushroom, black mushroom, glass noodle (with scissors), onion, spring onion, and garlic in a bowl.
4. Royal Fresh Spring Rolls Add 1 egg yolk, 1tsp of chicken powder,1tsp of pepper, 1/2tsp of sugar. Mix everything in a bowl.
Put some oil in a pan. When it’s hot, fry it for 10min with some water.
4. Royal Fresh Spring Rolls When it’s fried, wet your hand a little and pass it on each side of a rice paper. It has to be a bit sticky. Wait for it to get soft and put 1tsp of the mix in the middle and roll it.
4. Royal Fresh Spring Rolls You can enjoy the spring rolls with special fish sauce. Put 1tsp of sugar, 1tsp of rice vinegar, 2tsp of fish sauce. Add 1tsp of water and cook in a pan for 2 min. After, put the sauce in a bowl and add chopped garlic and fresh chili - if you like it hot.
The class ends at 6pm. No need for dinner after that… We get back to our hotel and watch TV. I sketch a bit as well. Tomorrow, we’re leaving for Hoi An. According to the forecast online, we can expect rain there as well.
I can’t wait…