Pilgrimage Village, Hue

It was our first stop outside of Ho Chi Minh city, and after a short drive from Hue airport, we arrived as a large crowd of guests were in the reception pavilion checking out. We were lead to the bar for a cool drink while they organised our check in process.

Hue is an important city to visit, as the former capital, there are still plenty of tombs of Emperors, Pagodas and temples and the magnificent Imperial Citadel, very similar to the Forbidden City. Hue is also a great base to explore the DMZ (and the border between North and South) and the Vinh Moc tunnels, where 60 families lived during the war.

Vietnam is hot, and while occasionally there's a cool breeze along the Perfume River, this sight seeing can be exhausting. It's nice to come back to the little villas in the Pilgrimage Village for a scented bath or swim in the shady pools. There are two to choose from. While the resort is boutique, there are also three bars scattered around the resort accessible by the leafy pathways.

The Junrei restaurant is excellent, set in a traditional style house with authentic imperial columns. The meals we had there were by far the best we had in Hue, and over the course of our stay we ate our way through most of the menu. The Valley Restaurant was only open for breakfast during our stay and two of my family voted their Pho the best we had in Vietnam (we learnt that Pho is only a breakfast food there. Many of the Vietnamese found it hilarious that we ate it for lunch or dinner in Australia).




While there are pool villas available, we got two family deluxe connecting rooms, and the rooms were very spacious for the five of us, with a lounge and balcony. Our room was conveniently opposite the kids play room, so the reward of a busy day would be to take our youngest there before heading for drinks.

The daytrip to the DMZ is a 10 hour day, so if you're wanting to make use of the day spa, I'd allow a 'rest day' in your itinerary. The hotel does organise excursions, however we just used a taxi to take us to the local sights (which was simple and inexpensive) and I'd already booked the DMZ tour prior to arriving. The hotel is 4km out of town, so offers a shuttle roughly every three hours from 8.30 until 7pm, bringing you home at 9.30pm.

One thing I loved about this resort, was the quiet serenity. The tourists were from around the world, with many different languages being whispered poolside. Obviously the city is a key stop for the French, but the tourists here differed greatly to those we saw everywhere else on our trip, as there was no one type. Perhaps because the focus isn't on the American War, or the historical sights are heavy with grandeur or maybe just because the Australian Travel Agents don't push it, Hue seemed to me a little more exotic than the other cities we visited.








Hue is a city of great historical importance to Vietnam, and worth spending at least three days there, but if you want a more relaxing break, extend it to allow a few days of relaxation in a harmonious setting, remembering that you are on holiday too.





Practicalities:

Pilgrimage Village  - boutique resort and spa 

Hue is accessible by it's own airport and railway station or two and a half hours by car from Da Nang.
It's worth reading Saigon by Anthony Grey because a lot of the action takes place around Hue, and includes a lot of historical facts and figures, such as the story of Thích Quảng Đức in an epic fictional saga.






Further Reading:
Angsana Lang Co 

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