Hoi An to Hue via Hai Van pass

We booked a taxi with stopovers for just under 1500000 vnd.

The driver An picked us up at 8:30. We went via Danang the 3d largest city in Vietnam, the Hai Van pass that looks over the Danang bay on clear day; it was full of clouds but we took pictures earlier.

An was speaking basic English, he had 2 kids (both girls) and was from the province near Hue. We heard that grandparents still want boys as grand children. You get 5 marks for a boy, 10 for 2 boys, 1 for a girl child. We were more surprised to hear that most parents living in cities and large villages have to pay for school. Although this is about 1000000 dvn per month this is a lot of money for people working in local factories for 7000000 vnd. In the south people were getting double or triple that so there was a continuous move South.

He earned around 8-10000000.

He said that tourism is still 40% of the pre COVID times.

Traditional fishing has not changed much along the years

Via Lap An lagoon and then to Lango Co beach nice and wavy. We could not resist a small fried fish and cold beers.

Another hour and half and we arrived to Hue Imperial city and appropriately we stayed in the previous Medical Institute for the emperor where now Spatel d'Annam Hotel has its grounds.

A long walk after, out of the external walls of the Imperial city (6m thick) to the market where the main ingredients for sale seem to be massive amount of chilli shrimp sauce and shrimp paste.

City is busy with mopeds everywhere and small eateries that come to life as the dusk falls.

The evening we went to Madame Thu restaurant on An's recommendation and had pork kebabs in rice paper, a beef noodle dish and wraps with shrimp. All washed down with a very average Dalat wine. The food was great, varied and the surroundings simple and relaxed.

Some more pictures from our afternoon walk. The Imperial site reigns over the city that is crisscrossed by the slow flowing but large Perfume river.