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Went a wandering to find Cafe 43 again and was super successful this time. I discovered that it was right around the corner from where we did our cooking class the night before - we weren't quite so far out of town as we thought! Unfortunately it didn't look like it was open so I gave it a miss and continued walking until I finally settled down at Nam Cafe.
At first I thought my server didn't speak English, but it just turns out she was incredibly shy. My lychee shake was the greatest liquid that has ever touched my lips while in Vietnam. The Banh My Vietnam I ordered was delicious but probably not as good as the one from our favourite Banh My stand. She apologised for the wait on my food even though it didn't really take that long by Vietnamese standards, so willing to give these guys an up vote alone based on that.
Following breakfast I walked around and found Japanese Bridge and walked to the other side. There is a temple there also that I was keen to visit but unfortunately I was not dressed appropriately so I gave it a miss.
I found a tea store and decided to purchase some tea. I opted for the Green Tea with Ginseng as they wanted too much for the Lotus tea. To be fair though I didn't bother to barter so maybe I could have gotten it down a lot lower if I had tried.
Stopped off at the market to buy some fruit, a cheap meal replacement for lunchtime, and popped back to the hotel to get ready for departure.
The bus ride to Hue takes 4 hours in total but we broke it up with a couple of stops along the way. First stop was China Beach, Da Nang. We didn't swim but we had some great photo opportunities. Definitely another beautiful section of Vietnamese coastline!
Next stop was a giant rock lookout to take photos of the coast from above. It was a spectacular view! Despite my failed attempt at taking a picture of Janaka jumping in the air, I was able to get a couple of really decent shots (at this point my phone is broken and I can't access them, I am hoping when I get back home someone will be able to salvage them for me!).
I am glad I opted to buy fruit for lunch. Although an incredibly light meal the food at this bus stop didn't look that amazing! My ginseng and pineapple shake was delicious though - despite its off putting fluro green colour.
Finally arrived in Hue around 4pm and checked into Victory Hotel. Ngoc let us know that our hotel was pretty far away from anything worth seeing and to hold off trying to do anything until our city tour the next day (an optional extra that we paid a little more for).
Another downside for the hotel was the crappy wifi, but I got to enjoy some time outside on the communal balcony to get it working.
We all decided to go for a walk and were intially heading towards the river but we got a little lost. A guard gave us directions and pointed us the wrong way which didn't help (in his defence though, the river does stretch through most of the city so he didn't do too badly).
Finally on the right road and we decided to stop at Paris Cafe. It was quaint and delightful with all the staff excited and happy to be serving us. It helped that it was International Women's Day and they were super excited just for that reason. The girls and I got a rose each on entry which was a nice touch.
I ordered a coffee with baileys. Essentially an Espresso Martini and it was delightful in more ways than one. Since I don't usually enjoy coffee, that's a good sign. There was enough baileys to mask the strong flavour of the coffee, but not enough to be too alcoholic. Perfectly balanced! At only 30,000VND this is definitely good value. If you ever make a stop in Hue, you should absolutely go here!
Got to the river eventually and found a miniature night food area with sweet soups and Vietnamese BBQ. I vowed to come back, but didn't want to before dinner and ruin my appetite.
Ngoc took us to a homestay dinner tonight. This was another optional extra we decided to add into our itinerary. The family we went to used to run the motorbike tour around Hue for Gecko's, but after a risk assessment it got cancelled and they were losing money. So Ngoc takes his groups there for dinners to help them out. I thought this was a really sweet thing to do and was more than happy to get involved.
Our host mum was a brilliant cook! As is the style in Vietnam though we were given WAY too much food and we had so much left over still at the end of the evening.
Before we left all of the kids stood up and did a performance for us, including, of course, Gangnam Style. It was a pretty expensive option as a home dinner (150,000 each with drinks at extra cost - I don't usually spend this at restaurants!!) but I was happy in the end and didn't mind.
We headed back to the hotel, getting hi-fives on our way out the door, and went straight to bed.
Definitely been a good day, even if most of it was taken up in travel!
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