Hi, everyone! I have spent the last week split between Huế and Đà Nẵng, visiting historical sites and looking for langurs. It has been a damn good week.

A few housekeeping things:

1) If you’re interested in my art, have a look at my merchandise on RedBubble!
2) If wanting to read my first novel, Eclipse Me, you can find the link here.

Huế

The ride from Phong Nha to Huế wasn’t overly painful. I read a book to pass the time and before long, I’d arrived in the city. Because I typically don’t look at pictures before going places, I was surprised to find Huế was actually a larger city. I had envisioned a small town. While it wasn’t massive, it certainly was larger than imagined. I wasn’t completely sold on visiting – it is mostly known for its historical sites – tombs, the Imperial City, etc. I am not a huge history buff. In the end, I decided to go, if only to break up my travel time between Phong Nha and Đà Nẵng.

After checking in to my accommodation, I went for food. Huế is allegedly the food capital of Vietnam. I stopped at a cafe and ordered two “Huế specialty” items – cà chua nhồi thịt, and bánh bèo. The first was ground pork-stuffed tomatoes and the latter were rice cakes. I didn’t care for the rice cakes but the tomatoes were incredible! Yum. The host asked if I would write a review and also handed me a card that had a number of easy Vietnamese phrases. So helpful and cute.

Because it had been raining on and off that day, I wasn’t sure I would do much exploring. In the end, I decided to just walk along the Perfume River before sunset. The Perfume River is named as such because in autumn, fragrant flower petals would fall into the river from higher up in the mountains. As they drifted down the river, the river gave off a lovely, floral scent. Unfortunately, that has since changed what with boat traffic, air pollution, etc. A shame!

Thiên Mụ Pagoda

I walked along the Perfume River with a goal to visit the Thiên Mụ pagoda. I knew this one was actually a multi-tiered pagoda, unlike the one I found slightly underwhelming in Ninh Bình.

During my walk, rain showers poured down on and off. I was constantly putting my rain poncho on, taking it off, putting it on, taking it off. While walking, I noticed the largest snail I’ve ever seen in my life.

I was pleased to be able to walk along a sidewalk – they are certainly a novelty in Southeast Asia. IMAGINE THAT! Huế seemed pretty good about it, they had sidewalks everywhere in town. Such a treat.

I arrived at the pagoda just before sunset. On a plaque, I read that each tier of the pagoda has a buddha inside it. Cool! The area was more than just the pagoda, though. It led to a temple where there was a monk inside. There were also dozens of bonsai trees that seemed well-cared for.

Further back in the courtyard, there was a stupa that I later learned has the remains of a monk there as well.

After I’d thoroughly walked around the complex, I ventured back along the Perfume River. I was incredibly delighted to find one of the most gorgeous bridges I’ve maybe ever seen. As the night took over, I saw the lights turn on one by one. Suddenly, the entire bridge was lit up, and changing color at that. Honestly, this bridge was one of the highlights of Huế for me. I found it to be really beautiful haha. There were also two other bridges in town that were lit up, but this one was the most impressive to me.

I was delighted to see fireflies in the grassy areas near the river. It feels so rare to see them these days. They remind me of being a kid – hanging out with the neighborhood kids while visiting my Grandma in Chicago, catching them, etc. The wonder of childhood = fireflies.

As I was looking for food, it began pouring rain. Pouring! I ducked into the nearest restaurant and ordered a plate of curry. I’d been meaning to try Vietnamese-style curry but I hadn’t seen any up north. To be honest, the place I went to was overpriced (well, by Vietnamese standards) and not that impressive. Easily my least favorite dish in Huế.

Dinner aside, I was surprised by my first impressions of Huế – I liked the vibe of the city more than I had originally anticipated.

Imperial City

I woke up to – surprise! – pouring rain and decided to have a lazy morning. For lunch, I ducked next door to a family restaurant where I was happy to see they had shakshuka on the menu. How random! I very, very rarely see shakshuka on menus so when I do see it, I typically will always order it. I returned a second time and asked the owner why it was on there. She explained she once had an Israeli girl stay at her homestay for a while. She ended up teaching the family how to make shakshuka. Eventually, they added it to their menu with their own Vietnamese flair. It was delicious! She told me that a lot of foreigners like ordering it. Well – me, included.

In the afternoon, rain had eased up. Within Huế, there is a moat and wall running along the Imperial City, which was home to government buildings, royal homes, etc. during the time of the Vietnamese emperors. I walked along the first set of walls, but decided to wait for the following day to check out the innermost set, where the most significant buildings were.

The moat reminded me of my time in Osaka with Gene, where we walked along the moat and checked out the Osaka Castle. IDK why, but I think moats are pretty cool.

I walked along the perimeter and was impressed by the wall gates. They had one at each side – east, north, west, south. I snapped photos along the way. I was able to walk up onto the outermost walls that looked off towards Huế city.

The next morning, I returned and bought tickets to enter the main area of the Imperial City. I think this is sort of the main attraction in Huế, so there were a lot of other tourists around as well. Even so, it wasn’t incredibly crowded. Because the area is so large, I was able to escape the crowds easily.

The city had way more complexes to check out than I imagined. They all had pretty different layouts, were in different states of upkeep, etc. Some areas of the city looked more overgrown by vegetation, more rustic. Others, like the palace, felt brand new.

Unfortunately, much of the Imperial City was destroyed during the Vietnam War and so a lot of those in better shape is due to reconstruction efforts.

My favorite building, perhaps the opinion of many, was the Kiến Trung Palace, where the emperors lived. The colors were incredible. I was able to walk inside the ground floor but not the upper levels. They had various dishware sets on display and even had one of the emperors’ palanquins.

There was also a garden which had even more bonsais than at Thiên Mụ pagoda.

Overall, I spent a few hours at the Imperial City before getting lunch and moving on to my next destination.

Khải Định Tomb & Royal Arena

I wasn’t sure if I would visit any of the tombs, but in the end I decided to take a Grab out to Khải Định’s tomb. I had seen a photo of it and it looked pretty stunning. Leading up to the building that houses Khải Định’s tomb, the area looked incredibly gothic. It is supposedly renowned for its blend of Vietnamese and European architecture.

Dark, with towering spires, statues of guards and elephants. Structures with figures of bats along it. Super goth.

Entering the tomb area is the complete opposite. So many colors!

The “tomb room” is composed of porcelain and glass mosaics. The ceiling was painted in trippy patterns with dragons (seen above). Very cool and worthwhile, despite the complex itself being somewhat small.

While my ticket came with entrance to two tombs, I felt a little tomb’d out. Instead, I took a Grab and went back towards the city, with one stop along the way. The Royal Arena.

Tucked away in an unsuspecting neighborhood were the remains of the Royal Arena – once known for gladiator-style fights between elephants and tigers. To be honest, despite how beautiful and historically important the Imperial City and even Khải Định’s tomb were… I found the Royal Arena to be the most interesting thing of the day. I was there for all of ten minutes, but I could just imagine the emperor and his subjects watching the arena below as the powerful creatures fought to the death.

After, I returned back to my accommodation. In the evening, I met up with two other travelers, Raul and… Raul. They were from Spain. We went for tea and then walked around town at night. I practiced my Spanish with them which was really nice. We talked about a lot of stuff and I admitted that I need a break from beautiful sightseeing because it’s not leaving the same impression as it once did. BEAUTY OVERLOAD. But in that sense, Huế was really nice for me because it wasn’t so much about natural beauty – it was more about food and history.

Đà Nẵng

The next morning, I hopped on a bus and took a two hour ride to Đà Nẵng. This was the shortest bus ride I’d yet had since being in Vietnam. It has been a lot of five hour, eight hour, ten hour bus rides. So this was… kind of a delight.

I had one, and ONLY ONE mission in Đà Nẵng – and that was to try and see the red-shanked douc langurs, an endangered species of monkeys in Vietnam (so named for the red coloring on their “shanks”). They also exist in Laos, too, from what I heard. They are known as the “queen of primates”.

Before coming to Đà Nẵng, I’d researched where to try and see them and which tour companies to go with. Some of the tours were USD$150 which just seemed verrrry expensive to me. There was another that was $95. Eventually, I settled on a motorbike excursion that was only $39. Fine by me. However, I couldn’t go until the next morning. I got settled at my accommodation. But then… the weather was looking good and the next days called for rain. Maybe I should just take a Grab out to the area I’d read about and try my luck?

FINE. Let’s do it.

Sơn Trà Peninsula

Thirty minutes later, the driver dropped me off near the entrance to Intercontinental hotel. This area was “prime habitat” for the langurs, nestled in canopies up in the mountains. Now, I only found out about these guys maybe a year ago. They are… the most unusual, beautiful monkey ever, I think. I told myself I would stay in Đà Nẵng until I saw them. It was a mission, it was an obsession. But what if I had run out of luck? After all, I’d seen the critically endangered Cát Bà langurs (from a distance) in Cát Bà, the (also) critically endangered Delacour’s langurs in Ninh Bình… had I used up my luck?

Five minutes down the road and I heard a rustling to my left. I looked up and a red-shanked douc looked down at me. I could not believe it. What a beautiful, beautiful creature.

I was able to observe a family of maybe seven langurs. Three hung out on exposed tree branches, offering great views of their striking coat colorings. What luck!

While it was an overcast day, which is sometimes good for photography, they were placed in a somewhat back-lit position and at times, the photos turned out kind of grainy. Still, I think I managed some good ones.

The langurs seemed pretty unbothered by me. I must have watched them for forty-five minutes, snapping as many photos as I could. Occasionally, one or two would jump from tree to tree. At times, a small group seemed to be fighting another group – but they were hidden by leaves and I didn’t get to see exactly what happened. There was one point where they got into a particularly rough brawl and it sounded like one of the langurs dropped down practically to the ground. Lord have mercy! LOL. Vicious!

I walked along the area and actually spotted another group of langurs further down the road. There was also a mother and baby across the road – those ones I think ended up being my best photos of the day, because of ideal lighting conditions.

So cute!

I kept telling myself, “okay, leave them alone – you’ve enjoyed them for a while now and you’re also going on a tour to see them again tomorrow morning.” But then I would see another one I wanted to take a picture of lol. I turned down another road and there was one final sighting before I left.

While watching that sighting, I talked with a couple of locals. They didn’t speak much English but with GoogleTranslate, they told me seeing the langurs is rare and special. I also ended up chatting with a German guy who was traveling around Vietnam BY BICYCLE – which is super impressive. We talked for maybe ten minutes.

I tried ordering a Grab but… none of them were coming to this area. After all, I was on Sơn Trà peninsula, a more remote area that was about 20min from Đà Nẵng city itself. Fuck. The walk back was going to be LONG.

I found it ironic that I am constantly asked by Grab drivers day in and day out if I need a ride… and when I actually do for once, they’re nowhere to be seen.

I began heading downhill. At least there were some beautiful views of the ocean next to me. Although, again, I am kind of burnt out from all the beautiful views haha. I didn’t even take a photo. I mean, hey, it’s still beautiful, but it’s just too much lately. Give me a break!

Really, I wanted to just flag someone down and ask to pay for a ride but almost everyone on scooters already had a passenger. It was hard to work up the nerve.

To my delight, maybe thirty minutes later, a local gestured in the direction he was driving. I nodded, and he pulled over. He definitely had road rage but he was very kind and dropped me off in town, which was… way better than the three hour walk that I was potentially facing. As I left, I was reaching in my bag for my wallet, but he gestured for me to just close the door. I expected he would want some kind of payment but he actually just gave me a ride out of the goodness of his heart. Usually, that’s how it goes with hitchhiking (I wasn’t even actively hitchhiking), but in Southeast Asia, I figured it would look a little differently. Hitchhiking is not a thing here like it is in Australia/Aotearoa New Zealand. Anyway. I just kind of stood there for a second, stunned. I watched him drive away, pleased that he saved me from a very long walk.

I still had maybe 30min walk before I reached my accommodation, but I wanted to walk near the water. I haven’t even mentioned it yet, but I was staying near Đà Nẵng Beach, just a block or so from the ocean. Because the weather had been so shitty, I didn’t really take advantage of it at all. But instead, on my walk back, I admired the powerful waves as they crashed onto the shore. Many people were out and about. Such a lively city! Apparently, Đà Nẵng has a large ex pat community – a good spot for people to stay in Vietnam long term. Nearby mountains, the ocean, convenience of city living, etc. Đà Nẵng has a lot going for it.

During my walk, I actually passed a group of people doing acroyoga and balancing on the slackline. I had the biggest grin on my face. Seeing that really took me back to summer in Queenstown – where I would join the “circus freaks” every week. What a special time in my life.

Sunrise Motorbike Excursion

The next morning, I woke up at 5.40am to get picked up for my tour. The weather was looking grim. I was picked up by Hui, my guide for the morning.

We first stopped along the edge of Đà Nẵng town to have a look at the fishing spot. In the area were a lot of giant half-coconut looking things. I had no idea what they were and kind of overlooked them. However, Hui explained that when the French had colonized Vietnam, they wanted to tax all the locals for having boats. Well, the Vietnamese found a workaround and created these coconut-looking boats. They weren’t really BOATS, y’know? And the custom has stuck. How fun is that? We even saw a few fishermen heading out on the boats.

Off in the distance, and something I’d passed the day before, was the giant statue of Lady Buddha. He told me that Đà Nẵng used to be struck by pretty bad typhoons but after the construction of Lady Buddha, typhoons always seem to reroute and usually don’t hit Đà Nẵng directly.

From there, we climbed up into the mountains of the Sơn Trà peninsula. Hui took me to a different area than I’d been the day before. I was a little concerned about the weather and how it would affect our sightings. It was VERY windy, which makes it hard to spot wildlife. If observing under calm conditions, it’s very easy to see rustling leaves. But with the wind, all the leaves are rustling.

Sure enough, Hui spotted something several meters away and pulled over. Oh, good! I hopped off the bike, looked to my left, and realized there were three langurs looking at me from the top of a tree just off the road next to me. WHOA. Unfortunately, they tucked deeper into the tree before I could snap a photo. Damn!

In terms of photography, the afternoon prior had been far superior. Hui was great and spotted I think four or five different sets of langurs, but all of them were much further away than the ones previously. And they all fucked off almost as soon as we approached their area. I was still happy I got to see them again, though! (Case in point: I took over 100 photos the day before. Only took 12 during the tour and they all sucked so I’m not sharing any of them here lol.)

There were also some nice views of the peninsula, despite the overcast morning. Hui told me how the waves crashing along the land down below always reminds him of his dad and a famous Vietnamese commercial from his youth.

While the tour was supposed to go 5.30am-9am, it got cut short. Rain started POURING down on us. We threw on rain ponchos and hurried back to the city. In all honesty, I was feeling a little let down. Yes, I’d had an incredible afternoon previously, but this tour was from 6-8am (with maybe 50min looking for the langurs) and the sightings were a bit lackluster. I still felt grateful that I was able to see them again, though!

Back at my accommodation, I went back to bed until 11am. I had shit sleep the night before and needed to catch up.

Spontaneous Adventures

In the afternoon, I was chatting online with another solo traveler, Ido from Germany. After a bit, we realized we were staying in the same hotel. And, funnily enough, our rooms were on the exact same floor. Laughing about it, we decided to meet up. We talked about our experiences traveling around Southeast Asia. I told him about my time in Vietnam and how my main objective of being in Đà Nẵng was to see the langurs. He hadn’t heard of them yet, and mused that maybe he would go to see them that afternoon. “I’ll join you,” I said. Five minutes later, we left the hotel and rented a scooter.

I cautioned Ido that we might not see them. We parked the scooter and walked along the same road I had yesterday. “Are they pretty scared of humans or—?” Ido started to ask. And as he did so, we heard some rustling to our right. “They’re right there,” I said, spotting a tail in the bush. And then we saw more of them tucked into the trees.

As time went on, we were able to watch maybe eight of them in the trees, some mommas with their babies. This excursion proved to be the absolute best in terms of photography. (Note, the photos below of mommas & babies are quite shit but wanted to include them just so you can see how differently colored the babies are compared to adults.)

I am so, so pleased I got another chance to see them!

Ido snapped photos with his phone, too. We probably spent 20 or 30 minutes admiring them. I was really happy about the lighting conditions.

I said goodbye and thanked the monkeys. What a dream! Ido and I looked off at the water, trying to figure out why a large chunk of the water looked brown. We never could quite come to agreement. If you have any thoughts, leave a comment and let me know! Massive algae bloom?

We decided to stop near the Lady Buddha statue. Instead of going to the statue, we found ourselves near a pagoda – we checked that out instead.

It was pretty impressive and had tons of statues and bonsais in the area. Ido has spent a lot of time in India – I noticed he bowed to the Buddha inside the pagoda. He knows about mudras, the guards, etc.

The sky looked absolutely wicked. It seemed it would start pouring rain any second. Another typhoon was anticipated to arrive in Central Vietnam in the coming days but it looked like it was already beginning. (The typhoon has since died down to a tropical storm, but these storms seems to be par for the course in Vietnam currently.)

We drove back to our accommodation and decided to meet up for dinner, too. Maybe an hour later, we hopped back on the bike, stopped at Đà Nẵng’s iconic “dragon bridge” and then went to a nearby vegan spot. The food was really yummy – I always love those fresh, nourishing meals. Yum.

Later, we returned to our hotel and said our farewells. There is potential our travels will overlap in Laos or Thailand, but who knows? Regardless, it was great to meet Ido. We had lovely conversation and bonded quickly.

I initially was thinking I would be staying in Đà Nẵng for four, if not more, days. I was SO obsessive about seeing those langurs. And… well, I saw them! On three separate viewing periods. Because there wasn’t much else I cared to explore in Đà Nẵng, I decided to move on and head to Hội An the next day. The langurs were Priority #1 for me and that mission was complete.

The next morning, I had bún chả for lunch (YES!) and then went to the bus stop. Another guy from England was waiting as well. We ended up striking conversation and it was such a nice time. We talked for 30min waiting for the bus, and then for another hour along the entire bus ride. James was his name. We had each other cracking up about the absurdity of traveling around Southeast Asia. I don’t think anyone has made me laugh quite as much since being in Asia – it was like joking around with friends from back home. So nice! Once we arrived in Hội An, we shook hands and wished each other well.

I arrived at my accommodation and my jaw dropped at just how gorgeous my room is. I immediately booked an additional night. Hooray! Raul & Raul are also in Hội An as of today so we are talking about meeting up this evening, which should be nice. The past few days have been quite social. I suppose that’s how it goes. Sometimes, I am solo for a good stretch of time, and then all of a sudden there is constant engagement with others. Life is crazy. Love it.

Miscellaneous

Typically after having a meal, I’ll stand up and head over to the host to get my bill. Usually, they’ll ask me, “the bill?” Uh… obviously! What else?! Just a silly thing.

There have been random blackouts recently. In Phong Nha, in Huế, just now in Hội An. Very brief, usually.

Since being in Central Vietnam, I’ve been surprised by just how much English many of the locals can speak. It seems much different from the North, where hardly anyone was speaking English. But here, it seems like many of the people working in customer service roles can speak a pretty decent amount of English.

Also for restaurants… sometimes, I’ll be the only person eating in a place. When I sit down, they’ll turn on the lights, fan, and music on just for me… on one such occasion in Huế, the album playing? Celine Dion. I think Vietnam lowkey loves Celine Dion.

And lastly, I got a really sweet message from a Queenstown friend recently. Fabian was asking me where I’d seen the langurs and we started chatting about other stuff. He told me how he has started volunteering at Kiwi Park and shared that they still have my drawing on the fridge and that they speak of me highly there. He shared that my former boss Jen had told him I went to Rakiura/Stewart Island with a mission to see kiwi birds and he ended up doing the same (and saw them successfully). He also said he likes seeing all the things I post, because they tend to be wildlife-focused, etc. I was really touched by him sharing all that. It was nice to know that even though it has been more than a year since leaving, I haven’t been forgotten.

Reflections

I am feeling good! As mentioned, I am still a little burnt out from beautiful views – which seems like such a silly thing. However, I’ve had and will continue to have, some good recovery time. Huế, Đà Nẵng, and Hội An are not necessarily known for their nature. And after this, I’ll be going to Cat Tien National Park which I think is maybe less about the natural beauty and just more about the wildlife. Then HCMC from there. So, I think I’ll kind of have a good break from it. I just need a palette cleanser from all the beauty so that I can start enjoying it again. Imagine – Vietnam has been so beautiful that it has spoiled me LOL.

I have three nights (if not more) in Hội An. I am expecting a lot of rain. I don’t have much of anything planned here. Today, I went to a tailor to get a few custom button-downs made. I’ll probably walk around Old Town at night to see what it’s all about. But otherwise, I don’t have anything planned yet. Maybe rent a bike, ride around the nearby rice fields, etc. But also, if it rains, I might just hang out in bed!

Until next time, sending you my love. x