Hue
Dec 10th, 2007, 06:14 PM
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Hue
Several Fodorites have recently asked about day tours in Hue. No responses have been posted. I am also going to Hue and am looking for guide or tour companies to do a day tour. HELP PLEASE.
Jan 1st, 2008, 05:55 PM
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I can highly recommend the guide we had in Hue and Hoi An. His name is "Thuan". He can readily suggest the best activities in Hue. (Don't miss Hoi An if you have time).
You can book him through "Kim Lan" at ASIE LOINTAINE & TRAVEL & TOURS. Kim Lan scheduled our entire trip in VN and did a super job. You can reach her at [email protected] (you might want to reference the Hulberg family as sending you to her...we were thre in November). Telephone 84 - 8 - 8 36 01 63
Thuan, our guide, spoke excellent English and was quite knowledgable. I know he also leads trips in other cities, but we were only with him in central VN. (Kim Lan booked other very fine guides for us in other regions).
You can book him through "Kim Lan" at ASIE LOINTAINE & TRAVEL & TOURS. Kim Lan scheduled our entire trip in VN and did a super job. You can reach her at [email protected] (you might want to reference the Hulberg family as sending you to her...we were thre in November). Telephone 84 - 8 - 8 36 01 63
Thuan, our guide, spoke excellent English and was quite knowledgable. I know he also leads trips in other cities, but we were only with him in central VN. (Kim Lan booked other very fine guides for us in other regions).
Jan 16th, 2008, 03:12 AM
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Or you can use your personal antennae and go with one of the many blokes hanging around with motorbikes to hand.
As you walk around Hue you will be forever saying "no" to offers to take you here or there.
Eventually you must say "yes" - and I had one of the best days of my visit to Vietnam by doing just that.
Went out to the tombs - could stop as long as i liked. And there were some stops on the way there that I would never have found for myself.
No email address that i can give you - these are ordinary folk.
But should be given your business, don't you think?
As you walk around Hue you will be forever saying "no" to offers to take you here or there.
Eventually you must say "yes" - and I had one of the best days of my visit to Vietnam by doing just that.
Went out to the tombs - could stop as long as i liked. And there were some stops on the way there that I would never have found for myself.
No email address that i can give you - these are ordinary folk.
But should be given your business, don't you think?
Jan 16th, 2008, 10:05 AM
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We stayed at La Residence, which I liked, and hired a taxi for the day. We were a little "guided out" and so we decided to take the day walking around the different places/tombs/gardens on our own. It worked for us.
Jan 16th, 2008, 08:57 PM
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since most of places of interest are along the river, go down to the dock that's by the main bridge in the center of town. Find whichever boat operator you can communicate with or you like, make a deal on the boat for the day and he will take you to the tombs and wait for you while you see them. if you have a good guidebook, you can see the sites without a guide. things are not very old and pretty self-explanatory. FYI - i got a boat for a day for $20 at the dock
Jan 16th, 2008, 09:26 PM
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we have just returned from Asia and LOVED Hue - you can read all about what we did and where we went on this forum - SE Asia - a trip report so far
we used Exotissimo for a guide and driver and were very happy. You can do it all on your own but a guide and driver makes it so easy and if you are on hoilday it is nice if somebody else deals with the details
have fun!
we used Exotissimo for a guide and driver and were very happy. You can do it all on your own but a guide and driver makes it so easy and if you are on hoilday it is nice if somebody else deals with the details
have fun!
Jan 17th, 2008, 01:25 PM
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'City Tours' offers a day tour of Hue for $8USD/PP. Yeah, it's a group tour and you have to get on a bus. But, it was decent for the money. It included the basic sights of the city, including the Citadel, plus a Dragon Boat ride and a nice 3 course lunch (drinks were extra). They picked us up at Mandrian Cafe at 8:00 then of course stopped to pick up a few others. The English speaking guide did a good job. If I remember correctly, we finished around 16:00
When we arrived in Hue, we picked out a good 2 seat cyclo, negotiated a flat rate price per trip, tipped him well, got his cell phone then stayed with him for our entire stay in Hue. We had the hotel call him when we didn't want to walk to our restaurants, shopping, so forth. He stopped all the cat-callers from the street with a snap of his finger, once they saw we were with him. We notified him about the time we'd be done with the City Tour - he was there standing waiting to take us the restaurant we picked for the evening, "Little Italy". If I find the card with his number on it, I'll pass it along.
When we arrived in Hue, we picked out a good 2 seat cyclo, negotiated a flat rate price per trip, tipped him well, got his cell phone then stayed with him for our entire stay in Hue. We had the hotel call him when we didn't want to walk to our restaurants, shopping, so forth. He stopped all the cat-callers from the street with a snap of his finger, once they saw we were with him. We notified him about the time we'd be done with the City Tour - he was there standing waiting to take us the restaurant we picked for the evening, "Little Italy". If I find the card with his number on it, I'll pass it along.
Jan 17th, 2008, 04:52 PM
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book it and capetown folk,
we are trying to determine time in Hue v. time in Hoi An. We will have 6 nights total and are thinking 2 nights Hue, which will give us 1.5 days there, then take car/driver over the pass to Hoi An in afternoon and have 3.5 days in Hoi An. Do you think we can see most of the sites to which you refer in 1.5 days in Hue?
Capetown folk, I loved your report!! Learned a lot for our upcoming trip. thanks so much.
we are trying to determine time in Hue v. time in Hoi An. We will have 6 nights total and are thinking 2 nights Hue, which will give us 1.5 days there, then take car/driver over the pass to Hoi An in afternoon and have 3.5 days in Hoi An. Do you think we can see most of the sites to which you refer in 1.5 days in Hue?
Capetown folk, I loved your report!! Learned a lot for our upcoming trip. thanks so much.
Jan 17th, 2008, 08:26 PM
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Alison I think you have the balance about right. We loved Hue and also had 2 nights there which gave us a day and a half. I know you can get cheap bookings, but you will have seen from our report that at one of the mausoleums in Hue - the one with the big lake, we were one of the few families there and at another there was only us and a French couple. This made the whole experience so much more "intimate" and personla and you really got to experience these once very private and forbidden places as you could imagine they would be.
Hoi An is not as quaint and pretty as you might think. We really liked it there and we stayed for 5 nights (I think)It was planned as our down time and a big part in this relaxing time was the hotel we chose - Hoi An Life Resort which is literally at the top of town an a 5 minute walk to the old part. Also it is almost next door to Brothers Restaurant which is excellent - call by and book a table on the waters edge.
If you plan to have clothes copied in Hoi An you will need the days you plan - use Yaly's - maybe the branch we found on our last day! the new branch near Life Resort.
what hotel are you planning to saty at in both Hue and Hoi An?
Hue is famous for the Vietnamese hats - the ones with scenes inwhen you hold them up to the light are called poet hats - very useful when touring round in the heta - we went everywhere with ours - pay US$1 for them
The silk wraps and "pashminas" in Hoi An are excellent value and really nice. You will not find embroidered bags so much in Hoi An as i thought you would so buy them in Hanoi if you are going there first - the cotton lingerie and swimsuit (lined bags) are beautiful and very inexpensive (maybe US$2)
You don't really need Vietnamese dong - we just used US$ - you divide the dong by 16 000 - all shops will give you a dollar price and accept dollars, some will give you dollars change otherwise you get dong. There is a really nice little jewelry (costume jewelry) shop inthe old town - walk around you will find it, its the only shop of its type in a small village
You will have a wonderful time. Take Vietnam for what it is - a developing country with its faults, but with lovely people and fabulous food - try the fried spring rolls!
Hoi An is not as quaint and pretty as you might think. We really liked it there and we stayed for 5 nights (I think)It was planned as our down time and a big part in this relaxing time was the hotel we chose - Hoi An Life Resort which is literally at the top of town an a 5 minute walk to the old part. Also it is almost next door to Brothers Restaurant which is excellent - call by and book a table on the waters edge.
If you plan to have clothes copied in Hoi An you will need the days you plan - use Yaly's - maybe the branch we found on our last day! the new branch near Life Resort.
what hotel are you planning to saty at in both Hue and Hoi An?
Hue is famous for the Vietnamese hats - the ones with scenes inwhen you hold them up to the light are called poet hats - very useful when touring round in the heta - we went everywhere with ours - pay US$1 for them
The silk wraps and "pashminas" in Hoi An are excellent value and really nice. You will not find embroidered bags so much in Hoi An as i thought you would so buy them in Hanoi if you are going there first - the cotton lingerie and swimsuit (lined bags) are beautiful and very inexpensive (maybe US$2)
You don't really need Vietnamese dong - we just used US$ - you divide the dong by 16 000 - all shops will give you a dollar price and accept dollars, some will give you dollars change otherwise you get dong. There is a really nice little jewelry (costume jewelry) shop inthe old town - walk around you will find it, its the only shop of its type in a small village
You will have a wonderful time. Take Vietnam for what it is - a developing country with its faults, but with lovely people and fabulous food - try the fried spring rolls!
Jan 17th, 2008, 09:38 PM
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As most things will be priced in VND, you should use VND whenever possible. If not, you'll be paying more than you should be. Only pay in USD for things that are priced in USD. Plenty of ATM's around if you don't have USD to exchange. I never use USD in Vietnam.
Jan 18th, 2008, 06:31 AM
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One of our fondest memories of our stay in Hue was The Morin Hotel and our room overlooking the intersection at one end of a main bridge. What a circus! The hotel is an old French-designed place with its dining area set in a garden. Rooms have high ceilings and wide windows and enormous beds. The lobby's marble floors glisten. The service was impeccable. Just around the corner on the street leading away from the bridge is one of the best Vietnamese art shops. We found a bronze casting of a temple dancer there, a reminder of the many charms of that city.
Jan 18th, 2008, 10:26 AM
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Capetownfolk, we are planning to stay at Life Resort, partly due to your raves in your trip report! Thanks for the input about shopping. I think maybe the 2 nights will work in Hue -- we'll wait and take the car/driver over the Pass in the afternoon of the 2nd day. We'd like some chill out time in Hoi An, too -- even if we don't do much shopping.
USNR, I think we are also planning to stay at Saigon Morin. It is cheaper than La Residence and seems to be more centrally located, from what i can determine.
USNR, I think we are also planning to stay at Saigon Morin. It is cheaper than La Residence and seems to be more centrally located, from what i can determine.
Jan 18th, 2008, 11:14 AM
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Alison when we stayed at Life resort we found they had classes for various subjects - the children did lantern making and it was really nice- just the two of them and the teacher. The lanterns in Hoi An are wonderful - please do try the Brothers Restaurant - great lanterns.
We were talking tonight over dinner about the Red Bridge cooking school - excellent value and a wonderful experience - my husband does not cook and he did the best of all of us -I think we paid US$15 each and it was well worth it. The people at reception at Life Resort can book it for you - don't forget the Vietnamese Fried spring rolls at the Cargo Club as you look out over the river upstairs - have a wonderful trip - I am envious already!
We were talking tonight over dinner about the Red Bridge cooking school - excellent value and a wonderful experience - my husband does not cook and he did the best of all of us -I think we paid US$15 each and it was well worth it. The people at reception at Life Resort can book it for you - don't forget the Vietnamese Fried spring rolls at the Cargo Club as you look out over the river upstairs - have a wonderful trip - I am envious already!
