The Pilgrimage Village Hue

Hue, Day 1: We had a short 1-hour flight via Vietnam Airlines from Hanoi to Hue. Before boarding the plane we ran into one of the couples from the Halong Bay trip and chatted with them for a few minutes. I really think we're on the standard tourist circuit--everyone is either going north to south or vice versa and the itineraries are pretty much "same-same but different," as the saying goes. Upon touchdown, the plane deposited us on the tarmac in heavy warm rain and 90-degree temperatures. Ou...

Hue, Day 2:

Woke up, briefly gaped at the 20 foot tree that had toppled outside the front patio overnight, then enjoyed a hearty buffet breakfast before heading into town, map and guidebook pages in hand. The weather was continuing to be inclement, which is putting it mildly, so we thought it would be a good day to pay a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. Well, we walked for approximately 3 miles in driving rain before giving up. At some point Bill, who was armed only with ...

(Jim) I'm a Republican. I'm supposed to enjoy what is happening now. After all, the slow-motion train wreck that Hillary Clinton is imposing on the Democratic party, her attempt to secure the nomination for herself despite the almost impossible mathematical odds by destroying Barack Obama in exactly those states the Democrats most need to carry in November, obviously benefits my party and our candidate John McCain. Yet I hate it, and I keep hoping for a final Obama victory, one that drives a ...

(Jim) We spent two days in Hue, the old imperial city, where the Nguyen emperors ruled until the late 19th century. From 1874 to 1884 the French turned Vietnam and nearby Cambodia and Laos into French colonies, leaving the Nguyen emperors in place as puppets with no real power. The French looted the country of many of its artistic treasures, including the tiny golden statues of trees that stood on the altars of the dead emperors. The last nine emperors were puppets only, though they continued...

It has rained 16 days in a row, until today! Hurray! We were awaken by music at 5:30 and then the construction started very early. We had breakfast at our hotel, but it is not included. We had baguette, fried eggs, tea and juice. It was not a very good breakfast. We borrowed the hotel bikes and started toward the ancient tombs. Our first stop was at Duc Duc which was not very far from our hotel. It was small and not very decorative. It did have a few dragon, but that was about all. We rode ou...

HE SAID: About a one hour flight from Hoi An and we landed in Hue. So nice to be back on one hour plane rides as opposed to the 4 to 5 hour buses that we have become accustomed to. We arrived at our spectacular hotel, Pilgrimmage Village Resort; www.pilgrimagevillage.com. This place is so nice that we considered changing our flight out of Hue to stay a few more days. But the weather was cold and rainy so we decided to keep our flight. Hue is not much of a town but has some really fantastic to...

We flew into Hue yesterday to teeming rain and it's still a downpour this afternoon. As a result we cannot bike today. The hotel we're staying at is known for its spa but it's completely booked. So things are a bit slow right now. But we are seeing some very interesting things. Yesterday, we biked through the rain to an orphanage run by Buddhist nuns - there are 250 children there and we spent some time with them. It was a very emotional time for Christy (and for me) - one little boy clung on...