The Heritage Region of Vietnam : Hue, Hoi An and Da Nang

Day 1: Arrived Da Nang and transfer to Hue

Hello Vietnam!!! Here I am again. It took us 3 hours to arrive this charming city of Da Nang. Thank you AirAsia for flying us there with, and of course for your reasonably cheap airfares. Upon arrival, we took a cab (MaiLinh) straight to Hue, though there was a little delay when our drive had to pull over for over-speeding. The maximum speed was 50km/h. No wonder it took 2 hours++ to reach Hue which is only 100 km from Da Nang. We passed through Hai Van pass (Hai Van means sea cloud). It was foggy but the views of the sea from the hills/mountains were awesome.

The Ngo Mon gate at night

We arrived Hue at noon, checked-in, had nice a nice Italian-dressing spaghetti and rested. Before taking a walk around Hue, we arranged an itinerary for the following day. We purchased city tour day trip at the hotel reception. At dusk, we took a cyclo and went around the old city of Hue. Before sightseeing started, we agreed to pay VND 100,000 for 2 person for 1 hour. We were brought to the citadel and the entrances to the city. It was not worth a ride because it was so dark and difficult to get good pictures. We dropped by a shop selling
materials for Ao Dai (traditional Vietnamese costume for ladies) and I could say I was amazed with the colourful, nicely embroidered and glittering pieces of cloths. I got myself a pair of white and purple cloth. It costed USD75 for two sets of Ao Dai cloths. We didn't really have the slightest idea on the actual price, so we paid the money and went away.

From our experience taking the cyclo ride (and my previous trips to Vietnamcities), there are couple of things to be kept in mind for those who wish to travel to Vietnam. Firstly, fix the price and be firm on the price before getting on the cyclo. Secondly, time the ride. Thirdly, DO NOT SHOW ANY INTEREST if you happen to see interesting shops and DO NOT LET THE cyclo guy force you to stop at those shops. Just say NO.  If you are interested to drop-by at those shops, do return later and shop happily and freely. :). There is a long story to jot here, but I think many travelers will get idea behind the reminders. Before we return to the hotel, we surveyed for a nicer hotel for tomorrow and we got one which was just next door from the hotel we were staying in this day

Main Entrance to Imperial Citadel of Hue via Ngo Mon gate

Day 2: Hue City Tour: UNESCO World Heritage Site, Emperors' Tombs, Perfume River Cruise

For USD 8 per person, we had a full and satisfying day trip around Hue. The first landmark, being one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site is the Complex of Hue Monuments which include Imperial City, the Forbidden Purple City and other

entrances (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/678). It was nice to look at these monuments and good for our camera to work on too. I wish I would appreciate this visit by reading more on the history but my mind was too congested for historical stuff. Perhaps, I should try putting more effort to read and enhance my knowledge on every place I have visited, just like my mum. I'm so impressed with her knowledge in history.

Next stop was a visit to house garden. If I am not mistaken, the listing as provided by our hotel reception stated 'Imperial" garden instead of house garden. But whatever it is, I think this place is not worth a visit because there were not much flowers to appreciate. The only cool thing was the house was used by the imperials' descendants and another thing was, while it was scorching heat outside, it was really cooling in the inside. At noon, we had lunch at a restaurant near our hotel.

Nice view 

At Khai Dinh Tomb

After lunch, it was time to visit Thien mu pagoda and three selected tombs of the emperors along the Perfume River. The Thien Mu pagoda is a part of the Complex of Hue Monument but we didn't bother to fully explore this place. We just had a peek and headed to the stalls selling souvenirs. I bought myself fridge magnets (as usual), conical  Vietnamese straw hat (non la) and a stitch painting. Done with the pagoda, the coach brough us to the tombs. The first tomb visited was the Tomb of Minh Mang. There were several gates before reaching the mausoleum and the one I recall was Hien Duc gate.
We were given 40 minutes to explore the tomb but given that hot and sunny afternoon, we returned to the coach much earlier.


Two kilometers from Minh Mang tomb is Khai Dinh tomb which is more popular and more interesting than the former. More interesting camera shots can be done here. The arched staircase heading to the top and the statues of the warriors are the most frequently photographed spots. It would be more pleasant to take many camera shots if the weather was cooler. The sun was shining brightly and clear blue sky was good enough for nice pictures.

Warrior statues at Khai Dinh Tomb

After spending 40 minutes at the Tomb of Khai Dinh, we went to the Tomb of Tu Duc.  Before we arrive there, we stopped at shops selling incense and various other souvenirs. The incenses were arranged in lovely ways. The incenses were on the spot but we didn't bother to know about the process because our cameras were busy at that time. I am not sure if different colour incenses have different scent.

One of the entrances to the Imperial City

A pavillion at the Tomb of Tu Duc

Last tomb visited was the tomb of Tu Duc. This was really a nice place with decent and simple landscape, yet stunning. I couldn't stand the heat so I decided to relax under a tree and snapped more pictures to make full use of the leisure time. Done with all the tombs, we were taken to the riverbank where we embarked a modified platform boat and cruised along Perfume River. The river was considerably clean and the ride on the roofed platform boat was pleasant and cooling. I might fall asleep with the fresh breeze along the river. After 1 hour, we disembarked from the platform boat at the other end which is a very short walk from the hotel. We collected our belongings and checked-in in the other hotel.

Our day did not end there. We rented a motorcycle and explored parts of the imperial city that were not visited during the day. One of it was the colourful gate, which I'm not sure of the name. We took our own sweet time to photograph these eye-catching views. Well, from this activity, I may say that night photography is really a challenging skill and patience is a must. It appears easy enough when reading photography articles about night photography but application wise, was quite frustrating. Practices make things perfect so giving up is not an option. :).Then, we strolled along the river where the night market was before we returned to the hotel.

Day 3: Hue to Hoi An with stop at Lang Co beach

It was time to say adios to Hue. We took the 8 am bus to Hoi An. We were happy enough to see the big bus coming to pick us up, but later we got angry because the air-conditioner didn't work and we have to slide open the window and gasp unhealthy,polluted air along the journey to Hoi An. This was the part where I hated most. As the result, I returned my homecountry having high fever, flu and cough.

One of the old houses in Hoi An

This journey took 4 hours and the bus stopped at a small restaurant somewhere at Lang Co beach. Since there was nothing edible (except for the junkfood), I decided to have a peek at the area behind the restaurant. It was worth a peek because there was a beach and the view was quite nice, though the shore was too dirty with rubbish. Forget the rubbish, focus on the horizon, and all I got was breathtaking, eye-soothing views. After 40 minutes, the bus left Lang Co and headed to Hai Van pass where it passed through a long tunnel, longer than anything we have back at home.

Sunset view

Japanese Bridge

Finally, we arrived Hoi An after a long, nearly suffocating bus ride. We checked-in at An Phu hotel which was the last drop-off point for all passengers. We rested and  around 3 pm local time, we rented a bike and started the Hoi An Old City tour. There were areas where vehicles were not allowed except bicycles, and pedestrians. The environment was just awesome and I like this place very much. It resembles exactly like a typical old town I saw in many Chinese movie, but  of course in its own style. There were many traditional buildings, lanterns here and there, and most local people were in their national costumes. It was such a small town but most importantly, it is gazetted as UNESCO World Heritage site. We went to the Japanese Bridge, just to see this famous landmark and the symbol of Hoi An. It was built by the Japanese community and the architecture was just as modest.

We decided to spend the whole evening in Hoi An old town. I was so impressed during the sunset. The environment, the atmosphere changed dramatically. This was the time where our camera shutters were busy doing their jobs. Colourful lanterns were lit own, adding a romantic, yet cheerful atmosphere in Hoi An old town.

Crossing the fully lit up bridge to another part of the town, we went to the stalls selling lanterns. There were many shapes, colours and sizes which were attractive enough to make me spend the dollars. Hoi An will be even more cheerful and happening during the full moon festival. This is the strongerst reason to return to Hoi An but the next time I return, I will include Dalat n Nha Trang in my itinerary. Gossshhhh....so many places I still need to visit.

Around 8 pm, there were performances by the locals and I liked them very much. The traditional dances were colourful, graceful and energetic. Since Hoi An is one of the world heritage site, it is such a great idea to organize this kind of performance every night. It would be nicer if there were halal food outlets so that we could spend more time dining and enjoying the atmosphere. I do wish our Muslims will step in Hoi An and set up restaurants serving halal food.

The silence of Hoi An was felt as early as 9 pm. Shops closed except for small convenient stores and the Westerners who were expecting night life there would not be able to spend time in bars or clubs. There was no clubs or bars available in Hoi An. Maybe there was something at the beach but we didn't go there (tried to, but it was too far to travel by bike at night time). We went back to the hotel and our day ended earlier.


Day 4: My Son sanctuary, Marble Mountain, Cham Museum and Da Nang

At 8 am, we started our trip to another UNESCO World Heritage site, My Son sanctuary. It took around 1 hour to get there from Hoi An. My Son sanctuary is a place where ancient temples and shrines of Hinduism were preserved. At 9.30 am and 11.30 am (if not mistaken) everyday, there are performances by local youths which are really awesome and entertaining. Three musical performances were presented before tourists head to the main historical sites.I couldn't remember the name of  each performance but I attached the shots of the performances.

One of the temples in My Son

My perception on Buddhism and Hinduism changed a bit when I visited My Son sanctuary. What I meant is, I haven't thought that Hinduism and Buddhism are related to each other. And it appears that both are related and originated from India. I knew that Buddhism was founded by Siddharta Gauthama Buddha, but I didn't notice the first two names were Hindu names. I think I have to read more about the history of Hinduism and Buddhism. Like I said before, is it not yet the right time for me read on heavy stuff like history and religion. Another thing that came into my mind was the influence of Hinduism in Malay tradition and culture. I saw similarities on the dance performance. It's not entirely the same, of course, but the influence of certain aspects from Indo-Chinese region were cultivated in Malay society, perhaps long time ago. 

Our way out from the complex of temples and shrines

The Hinduism aspects in this sanctuary did not look anything like the Hinduism in Bali. According to mum, the Hinduism practiced in Bali is the ancient Hinduism, but I do not know how ancient it is. And now my question, which Hinduism appears longer? Is it the one presented in My Son sanctuary, or the one in Bali? Regardless of the length of time, I still think that the Hinduism practiced in Bali is really unique and interesting. Mum also said Bali is a land of festivals because there are many rituals, cultural events and religious routines being held almost every single day of the year. I've been to Bali 3 times but so far I didn't get the chance to witness those events yet. I need to get a local Bali friend practicing Hinduism and ask more about this. I miss visiting Bali so much.                        

Parts of Marble Mountain

Well, we didn't spend much time here as we were more interested to spend more time in the museums, the Cham Museum and the War Museum. Around 10.30 am, we headed to Marble Mountain, which is 1.5 hours journey from My Son. Marble Mountain, was the main resource for marbles, but I'm not sure if it is still the main resource today. There were many shops selling marble carvings, be it big carvings or small carvings, and pendants as well. On the top of the mountain, there were several pagodas and lookout points which facing the Eastern Sea (East China Sea actually but the Vietnamese refused to use ECS). It was pretty cooling up there though the altitude was below 1000 ft (my guess only). There was nothing much to see, thank god, or else we have to spend lesser time in the museums.

Bucket boat and the lifeguard

In less than 30 minutes, we got back to the car and headed to Cham museum. Well, frankly speaking, if one has been to Angkor Wat, a visit to Cham museum does not a necessity. This is a museum displaying all artifacts and remnants of religious sculptures and figures from the excavations of ancient Buddhist religious sites around Vietnam.
Next, we had seafood lunch at one of the famous seafood restaurant in Da Nang. We had tiger prawns, crabs and clamps. And it costed us USD 18 for 3 people. I think the prawns, crabs and clamps are fresh and for USD 18, they are bloody cheap. I just wish I can have seafood meals every week at where I'm staying now, but it appears to be not possible at the moment. After lunch, we were brought to the War Museum but we got a rotten luck as the museum was only opened at certain tima and entrance was only for tourists in groups. We decided to get to the hotel, and let the driver to return to Hoi An earlier. So, we checked-in at Jimmy Hotel which is a walking distance from the beach. Around 5 pm, we rented a bike and had a look at the beach. It was a nice beach, and unlike beaches in the Peninsular Malaysia coasts, the one in Da Nang is really clean and clear. I was eyeing for the bucket boat which I think was exclusive in Vietnam. Tried to take good pictures of it but the one I posted here is the only what I've got.

After sunset, we went to Han market where more Ao Dai materials were sold. We bought another several pieces of cloth and it happened that I didn't have much USDs left. I would definitely have bought more pieces for myself. After shopping, we had lunch at PIZZAHUG, and had tuna pizza, instead of vegetarian pizza. So I guess, that's the end of hour trip in the heritage region of Vietnam

Day 5: Returned to Kuala Lumpur with a hope that I didn't have to return home, but travel somewhere else.

Our expenditure for this trip

1) Airport cab to Hue                   USD 50
2) Hotels in Hue                           USD 60 (2 nights)
3) Hue City Tour                          USD  8  (per pax)
4) Entrance fees:
           Imperial Citadel                 VND  55,000
           House garden                    VND  10,000
           3 tombs                             VND 165,000
                                                     VND 230,000 (USD 11)
4) Bus Hue to Hoi An :                  USD  4  (per pax)
5) Hotel in Hoi An      :                  USD 12  (1 night)
6) One way day trip to My Son Sanctuary, Marble Mountain & Cham Museum + 1 night hotel in Da Nang (private tour)                                 USD 100 (for 2 pax)
7) Entrance fees:
            My Son sanctuary:            VND 60,000 per pax
            Marble Mountain :             VND 30,000 per pax
            Cham Museum    :             VND 30,000 per pax
                            Total   :              VND 120,000 per pax (6 USD)
7) Seafood lunch             :              USD   18 (for 3 pax)
8) Souvenirs                    :              USD lost track....:)