Grand Excursion - Da Nang, Hue

We only spent a few hours in Da Nang, but it is definitely a place I would want to return to.  We hiked up a mountain to see a pagoda where one of the emperors use to travel to, explored some caves, and enjoyed the view.  Da Nang is a tourist town.  We passed countless huge beach resorts, which all looked like they had few to no people staying in them.  My friend Tom is going back to Da Nang to study tourism for his ISP.  Thinking back to how the infrastructure of Vietnam was in the 1980s after they won their independence and seeing the country now is really interesting.  The amount of new buildings and resorts that have been built is quite impressive for the number of years Vietnam has had access to international trade markets and foreign investors. 

View from the mountain with the pagoda.

Monks praying and lighting incense.  My professor, Co Thanh, is on the left.

Inside one of the caves.

From Da Nang, we drove to Hue.  It was one of the most spectacular drives I have ever been on, but unfortunately my camera broke so you will just have to imagine driving on curving roads around the edge of mountains with the blue ocean below. 

Hue is famous because it was the former capital of Vietnam and the last emperors all resided within the Hue citadel. During our time in Hue we learned about the royal family, went on a "dragon" boat in the Perfume River, and finished up some classwork.  I am headed back to Hue to do my Independent Study Project (ISP) about Hue cuisine.  My professor got me an internship at a hotel restaurant for two weeks in November, which I am so excited for!  I will be able to interview chefs and learn how to cook traditional Hue dishes.  I also have a project adviser who has the title of "Culinary Artist of Hue".  She is the sweetest woman and teaches cooking classes and judges cooking competitions for a living. 

After Hue, we flew north to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.  We had one day in the city before we took a night train even further north to Sapa.  Pics to follow!