Travelfish #355: Vietnam’s Hue

Everywhere is on the way to somewhere Hi everyone, This week we’re all about Hue in Vietnam. It is one of our favourite cities in the country and, well, the food is just so damn good we could happily head there tomorrow. [Climb a tower, take a photo. Hue is a beautiful city. Photo: Stuart McDonald] Climb a tower, take a photo. Hue is a beautiful city. Photo: Stuart McDonald In case you missed this in the last two newsletters, in other news, we’ve added the first of a series of new newsletters. Called “Welcome to Thailand” it starts with a series of seven daily emails, each covering an introductory aspect of Thailand. A week later it switches to a weekly (Tuesday) instalment, each recommending a destination or attraction in Thailand that you may not have heard of. The newsletter is very much aimed at people new to Thailand, so if that is you, you can sign up here. [All subscribers also get a complimentary PDF itinerary for Southern Thailand](. We plan to roll this out for other countries as well, but we’re starting with the big one. Good travels, Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish crew Support Travelfish! If you'd like to chip in (if you haven’t already) for using the site, we'd love you to sign up for a year-long subscription for just A$35. [See more here](. Destination Vietnam: Hue Rich in history and home to some of Vietnam’s best food, [Hue]( seems to get but a fraction of the visitors it deserves. Many travellers skip it (or give it just a night) in favour of its far higher profile neighbour, Hoi An. That is a mistake and here is why Hue deserves at least two to three nights of your time. Lets start with the history. Hue was once an Imperial capital. At its heart, lay [The Citadel]( and at its heart, The Forbidden Purple City. While much damaged by conflict, it still makes for a fascinating half-day exploration. Outside the city, a network of [royal tombs]( inter those who once occupied the Citadel. These monuments to the ego, each of them fascinating in their own way, can fill days. Pagodas, [some famous]( some less so, dot the landscape. Some are best visited by boat, cruising along the scenic Perfume River. Others by bicycle or scooter, pacing yourself through rural scenery. [Then there is the food](. Bun Bo Hue, if there was ever a bowl that deserved to be named after Hue, this is it. You’ll never look at pho the same way again. Grab a streetside bowl, washing it down with a Huda beer or an iced sugarcane juice. Banh ep—another local speciality—think a Vietnamese tapiaco pancake lashed with pork and fresh herbs. We had a local prepare them in just his pajama pants, feeding us in his living room. Bun thit nuong, banh uot, bun hen, com hen, the list goes on. Oc (snails), fresh seafood, even local ice-cream. Oh and the coffee—pull up a red plastic stool was slurp it back by the river. Grab a bus for the short hop to [Thuan An Beach]( and spend a day on the white sand. Enjoy a beach so little developed save a low-key beach club it makes Da Nang and Hoi An look positively overrun. Accommodation spans all budgets, from [local-run homestays through to luxurious resorts](. There is a domestic airport, and the train ride from Hue to Da Nang is the most beautiful in the country. Don’t like the train? [Ride over the Hai Van Pass by motorbike](. If Hue isn’t on your itinerary for Vietnam, it should be. Good travels Stuart Premium members only: Book a round the world with [roundtheworldflights.com]( (must travel from the UK via Asia, Australia, New Zealand AND the Americas) and get £30pp off your trip. Offer valid for departures to December 2019. Log in to the Member Centre on Travelfish now for your coupon code and [start designing your own round the world trip »]( Ten things worth reading Road-tripping through Cambodia’s northeast “[Nearby Kratie is a nature lover’s paradise](. Most travelers come here to paddle the Mekong in kayaks, cycle the rural trails of nearby Koh Trong Island, or to catch a glimpse of the endangered Mekong Irrawaddy Dolphin.” Courting controversy, scientists team with industry to tackle one of the world’s most destructive crops “Others say that in working with large companies, [ecologists are missing worse offenders]( smallholder farmers who own 40% of Indonesia's oil palm plantations and may be less informed about biodiversity and oil palm management.” Mekong River in Golden Triangle drops to lowest level in a century “Many townspeople are [blaming the low water levels]( on the obstruction of Mekong tributary in Laos, at the site of the Xayaburi hydroelectric dam, in preparation for a test run of its power generators.” The sea is consuming Jakarta, and its people aren’t insured “To make matters worse, Jakarta’s poorest and most vulnerable residents—[those least able to afford insurance]( live in the most flood-prone places.” The US fears this huge Southeast Asian resort may become a Chinese naval base “Cambodia’s government insists it has [nothing to hide]( LOLZ Vietnam says preserved corpse of Ho Chi Minh in great condition ‘“[I require that my body be cremated]( Ho wrote.’ New tourism minister sees lure of marijuana “The marijuana tourism packages would aim to attract tourists from Europe and the US who have [a positive perception about medical marijuana]( Mekong: more dams, more damage “By using available data on fisheries, livelihoods, and other economic benefits, the study calculated that if all 11 dams go ahead, the economy of the lower Mekong will be [set back a staggering $7.3 billion]( over the next fifty years.” My body, this temple “[Death and tourists]( these have been constants for Michael Bassano, a Catholic priest from upstate New York who is the temple’s longest-serving volunteer.” The fight to save Indonesia’s threatened indigenous languages “One Mentawai elder from Siberut conveyed to The Diplomat that most of the community’s younger generation [now speak only Bahasa Indonesia]( Something to read A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA “A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA, by Joshua Kurlantzick, an expert on Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, is a [quite exhaustive history of US involvement in tiny, landlocked Laos]( in the lead up to and during the American war in Vietnam.” Travel shot [There is plenty to eat in Hue. Photo: Stuart McDonald] There is plenty to eat in Hue. Photo: Stuart McDonald Till next time [Sam and Stuart.] That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia. Travel light! Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team [( You're receiving the Travelfish newsletter because you signed up at Travelfish.org. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe Instantly](. Make sure you're getting our emails! If you're a Gmail user and would prefer your Travelfish newsletter in your Primary in-box rather than Promotions, just drag this email from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab, and click "yes" when it asks if you want to do that for all of our emails. 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