Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Hue Night Walk and Bun Bo Hue Dinner

When we finally walked out and towards the more vibrant shopping streets of Hue where most of the tourist were, it started to feel more like Vietnam. I recalled how the buildings in Hanoi also looked like these ones above, very cute and narrow, and just a few storeys high.  

We also took a walk near the river side, and there seems to a park there with pavilion and other structures. As it was dark and wet, we didn't really spend much time exploring the area, heading instead to the brighter shopping streets further along the way.

They also have some floating restaurant along the river. I think I went into this one, and I think it was a Starbucks -_________-  But it does look magical from afar. 

Above is what it looked like as we approach it. Since we weren't interested in Starbucks, we just went in to look around and left. 

While exploring the streets area, we came across Madam Thu, and I told my friend that this was one of the place I had planned for us to dine at. It was a little bit expensive and more tourist friendly, but we decided to go in and give it a try. 

Some of the menu of the dishes offered. I only wanted to try the Bun Bo Hue, which translate to Hue's Beef Noodle. My friend also ordered the same. I also ordered coffee. My KPI in Vietnam is trying to drink one cup of coffee a day, cause Vietnamese coffee is super delicious!

The also have a sample set. Most of the traditional rice paper and sticky rice dishes were already available during our breakfast buffet in our Danang Hotel, so there was no need to order this at all. But I like it that they have tasting plater for tourist to try. I appreciate such menu when I'm in a foreign land and don't really know what to order, or when I really want to try everything but in a smaller portion. 

Our dinner in Hue. The Bun Bo Hue was just delicious! It was so comforting to eat it, so much so that I actually drank the soup dry lol, enjoying every drop of it. The coffee was also strong. The service was very tourist centric, and they do pester you to give a review for them after your meal. But for my first try trying this dish, and I also had it the next day, I would say Madam Thu's version was absolutely my preference!

Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Hue White Lotus Hotel

 

There was a lot of hype about a TV series called White Lotus, and I thought it would be kinda cool to tell people that I've stayed in the White Lotus before :D  Yes, I know cheesy. What would life be if we don't have some cheesy fun along the way? And yes, I did booked a hotel called White Lotus for our stay in the Imperial City of Hue. And it wasn't a bad hotel either!

We took a Grab there from Hue Train Station, and it was just a short ride away. It was quite dark and rainy when we reached the hotel, but the place was so beautifully decorated that I think we instantly fell in love with the place. Above is the lift lobby area. Maybe it's something about the IndoChime way of decoration that is just so soothing somehow. 

It was a blend of Buddhism and Zen, yet the decoration was modern and ancient all at once.

The hotel also provided spa services, but we didn't try any of it since we were only staying for two nights. I thought it was nice that the dedicated a table display area to display the items used for their traditional massage and spa. 

At the sitting area at the lobby, the decoration was rather bold, with bold patterns of white lotus in black and white, and modern plants decoration on the table. 

The design of some of the Buddhist item were really fascinating. I was quite tempted to get one of those hanging incense burner. They make it so artistic and well. I wonder if they are designed by the Vietnamese or are they made in China? 

The hotel was rather huge. Next to it was actually a convention centre also under the same establishment. We were located at the hotel side. There is even a coffee cafe inside the hotel. 

When we got to our room, we were really pleased. It was too expensive per night here, yet the room felt like a 5 star hotel with views to match. I love the decoration of white and green so much. To be frank, I wasn't expecting it to be this nice. 

Just outside the window was the city of Hue, and the Perfume River. And right across the river was the Hue Imperial Citadel City. On our ride to the hotel, even though a short ride, we were surprised that Hue looked nothing like that other more chaotic part of Vietnam. In fact, we both think that it looked rather European, with wide roads and large buildings that are built spaciously around the city. It didn't look anything like the Vietnam that I was used to. Everything seems calm and orderly here....

I tend to like to book hotel rooms with bath tub, so that I can soak in them with my bath salt. This was one of those hotel, and I'm happy to see the bath tub looks out directly to the city and river area. It was so relaxing to be able to enjoy a bath here. And the toilet was so beautiful and spacious too.

Even the bath amenities looked luxurious. I love the bright green tiles so much. Emerald green!

Speaking of bath salt, here was the collection I brought with me. Some I got from Tokyo Hand for like, 5 variety packs for 2.90sgd? And one of them was from the hotel I stayed at in Nagoya that provide bath salt for their guest. I love that hotel.

Just outside the bathroom, above is the wall that separates the room and the bathroom area. Doesn't it look lovely? Maybe a bit too colourful, but I just love those lotus pattern all over the place!

They also provide some coffee and tea drinking area. I think this was the place they gave Lotus Tea, and it was the first time I tried it. I like it so much I went and bought a box of it home with me and still enjoy it at home from time to time.

The view from our window. Does this even look like Vietnam to you? 

As the sun set, the lights came on, and you could see the reflections on the river. You could also see the bridges all decorated with multi colours of lights. 

They also provded some welcome snacks of peanut candy, and real flowers in the room! That's why I said, it gave a very 5star feel to the whole place! I enjoyed drinking my tea and having a snack at this table very much.

As it was drizzling outside, we decided to stay in a while and eat our kimbap for dinner? We eventually did went out to walk around and had a proper dinner outside. 

When they rain kinda stopped, we went out and walked towards the convention centre building to access the load that lead to the vibrant streets a few block away. More on that on the next post.

Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Hue Station

More views from our train window as the train slowly pulls into Hue area. 

 

I love the green paddy field view best. Here is one with a church and some trains passing by as we near Hue Station. There are actually a lot of churches in Vietnam, probably left over from when the French used to occupied this place.

Lots of low land river view. Flooding is a big issue in Vietnam because of the many rivers that run through the country. We will see more of this in Hoi An, and how high the water can actually go.

Green paddy fields. 

Finally our train came to a stop at Hue Station.  Ga, which means Chicken, also means Station! But the pronunciation is different. 

The Hue Train Station actually looked nicer than the one in Danang. It was starting to drizzle when we arrived in the evening, and we called a Grab to get us from the station to our hotel. I think Vietnam is the only country I would take Grab everywhere cause it's very convenient and affordable. I felt very spoilt in Vietnam. It's like a luxury travel destination for me because I can also splurge on nice hotel, massages and do some shopping and eat at nice restaurant. I think I will visit it more often in future as I slowly pick up more and more Vietnamese. 

Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Danang Train to Hue Midway LangCo Station Stop

 

The train actually make a 5 minutes stop or so in the middle of the journey, at a small town call LangCo Station. It was interesting cause you 're allowed to get off the train if you want. We of course didn't quite dare to in case we missed getting back on the train. But it was interesting to look out the window all the same.

There was another similar train at the opposite track from us, presumingly going in the opposite direction.

I was hoping that there weill be vendors coming up on the train selling us snacks like those in Hua Hin Thailand. But here, the vendors remain outside of the train. You could buy snacks from them by getting down the train, or via an open window. It was a lot less convenient than in Thailand where vendors just walked up and down the train offering a wide variety of different snacks for you to eat along your journey.

Some of the vendors sell their stuff from a motobike too.

Vendor selling things via the train station to a customer.

I would love to buy some, but I don't know how. And I think our windows don't open either.... WHY????

Some of the view we saw along the way....

Note that I had to edit a lot of these photos cause there were cable wire running along the track that made most of the photos pretty distracting to look at -____- """

Lots of water side view.

Some road side view too. You could also take the road to get between Danang and Hue. You could even get a motobike ride if you feel adventurous! The highway view was supposed to be fantastic. 

Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Danang Train to Hue

 

At the departure platform of the train station in Danang as we wait to board our train to Hue. Lots of propaganda posters everywhere. Most of the time I forgot that Vietnam is actually a communist country at it's core. 

There seems to be a 50th anniversary celebration going on on the year of our visit. 

The train that we are about to board. It's actually a touristy train cause I couldn't get tickets for the normal local train. I tried booking online but they only accept Vietnam issued credit card..... So I had no choice but to buy a tourist train ticket from Klook. It was more expensive than if you were to buy it directly from their website..... Oh well, the whole ride itself wasn't expensive. I think it was around 12sgd. per way. 

The train looked rather old though, for a tourist heritage train, lol. 

Inside the train, also rather retro. 

Lots of Vietnam flags decorating throughout the train, and the wallpaper on the train was also very traditional looking. 

There was a whole Vietnam group was also seated on the same carriage as us. They talked non-stop through out the train and shouting across to each other. It was indeed almost like a local train! Lol.  They were all dressed in red. Perhaps it was a company trip or something. 

There is a community carriage in the middle where you could go get snacks or even watch a performance. I didn't visit the place on our ride from Danang to Hue, but I did went to check it out on our way back the other direction.  By the way, they also offer foot bath during the train ride, which I thought was rather interesting. If you order it, they will bring a wooden bucket of herbal hot water for you to soak your feet in. 

View of temple with Goddess of Mercy as the train pulled out from Danang Station. 

The train ride was supposed to offer lovely scenery via the Hai Van Pass, but I can't say I enjoyed the view very much. I think the view was a lot nicer on our way back. We did see some sea view, river view and mountain view, but nothing very outstanding, at least not for me. I've been on many trains in Japan that offers jaw dropping view before, so this was just so-so experience for me. 

Time to eat out snacks on the train. What did we get?

These lovely treats from the bakery at Big C this morning. I love them. It's just those little things that I need in my life to make it worth living. Something to cheer my soul up :)