Hue to Hoi An

Ok, let's try that again. We wake up and the rain has stopped and we're feeling a bit better. We head down for breakfast in the hotel. There's heaps of options, both local and western breakfast staples. There's even a chef cooking up eggs and serving soup. Fancy! We try not to fill up too much as we're leaving for Hoi An at midday and still want to try Bun Bo Hue before we go.

We don't have much time to waste so we're straight out after breakfast, headed for Dong Bà markets, another place that Anthony Bourdain visited and had what looked like THE Bun Bo Hue. We cross the bridge and enter into the markets. The outside of the markets is all fresh produce. And it looks fresh and there's lots of it, no doubt thanks to all the rain they get. It feels like a very local market with mostly locals out buying their fruits, veg, fish etc. We head into the indoor section of the market where the food stalls are and spot one with a big bubbling pot of soup broth out the front. We order a Bun Bo Hue to share and dig in. The broth is chilli and sour, with noodles, beef slices and some other round meat things. It's truly life changing and Courts is feeling almost cured of her cold after one slurp.

Feeling rejuvenated, we continue our wander through the markets. Inside its all about the spices, sweets and usual trinkets. And jewellery. So much gold jewellery. We're not tempted by that, but we can't say no to the vendor who's forcing dried mango and mango jellies down our throat. We leave the markets on a soup and sugar high.

We've still got a little bit of time before we need to be back at the hotel to meet our driver, so we take the opportunity to check out the city of Hue. Like everywhere we've been so far, we love it. It feels more French inspired with the corner cafes and greenery. It also has a bit more of a structure to it that Hanoi. Its also not as big so we don't feel like we missed heaps by spending the night in recovering last night. And it really wouldn't have been any fun in the rain.

We get back to the hotel to finish packing and our driver arrives to take us to Hoi An. Having a driver sounds fancy, but it's actually a cheap way to get to Hoi An, about 80 AUD. Our driver/guide also tells us to call him Alex, but his real name is Vu. Easy enough. It's about a 3 hour drive, but will take closer to 4.5-5 because of stops to see some sights along the way.

We chat and ask lots of questions about Hue and the things we see. We ask about the government and Vu says he votes because it's mandatory but doesn't seem to have an opinion otherwise. He also refers to the war as the American war. Like every guide we've had so far he's very knowledgeable about his city and country and is able to answer all our questions. He even gives Jeff a tip on the South East Asia Cup soccer game for tonight where Vietnam are playing Singapore. Although the tip seems to be based mostly on national pride than anything else.

Our first stop is at a lagoon with mountains as the backdrop. Gorgeous. This is also the lunch stop so we order a noodle soup and spring rolls to share. This soup has nothing on the Bun Bo Hue from this morning. We hop back in the car and head up through the mountains over Hai Van Pass. We're literally in the clouds. We stop a couple more time during the pass to see the city and beach views. You're not allowed to swim this time of year because it's too dangerous; we think probably mostly due to poor water quality with all the trash run off heading into the ocean.

We drive through Da Nang, a popular tourist destination in the summer. We stop off at Marble Mountain and climb the steep stairs up to the top to the oldest pagoda in Central Vietnam. We're mainly there for the view which is OK at best. Not as good as in Ninh Binh. We head back down and a short drive later we are in Hoi An.

We like the look of Hoi An straight away. We check-in, drop our bags in the room and head straight back out for banh mi before Jeff faints. It's been over 24 hours since his last one. It's probably the best one we've had yet and Jeff had his eyes on the resident chicken the whole time so there's no funny business this time. We go back to the hotel for a quick change of clothes and bug spray and head out to old town, where all the action is.

And action there is. Lights! Lanterns! Boats! The French inspired orange coloured buildings with the wooden French shutters on the windows, surrounded by trees is just stunning. Plenty of lantern lit boats out on the river, markets along the river in full swing, stalls selling food. Despite the fact the river has actually flooded and is up over the footpath and roads in some parts. It seems this is probably a regular occurrence with the seasonal rain they get, so it's not put a dampener on the proceedings. It's a touch on the touristy side but it doesn't take away from the charm of the place. We love it. Jeff indulges in some banana crepes and Court's opts for a corn on the cob as we wander around. This is the life. We head back to the hotel to watch the last half of the soccer (Vu's tip was spot-on, although Jeff is pretty suss on the legitimacy of this completion based on the VAR work..) and call it a night.