Hello parents and families, we had a very busy day today – rainy too.

This morning we got to sleep in for an extra hour which we all needed very much, and then we moseyed our way out of the hotel at a late 9:30 am. We then walked the plank onto a dragon boat as we drifted across the Perfume River to our next destination. First, we visited the Thien Mu Pagoda Temple, which includes us wearing modest clothing in respect to their wishes. We then quietly explored the temple which contained a praying area, statues and a huge bell! This beautiful place was the perfect opportunity for aesthetic photos, either in the foliage, outside the temple, or standing in front of a door. The temple was built in 1601 and is a religious, historical place in the city of Hue.

After, we went back onto the bot and travelled by foot to Nina’s Cafe for lunch, which was tucked away in an alleyway (we had a difficult time searching for). The food was delicious, and needed as we were all very hangry. As soon as we decided to leave the cafe, it began to rain, so we geared up with our emergency rain ponchos and walked to the front of The Imperial City in Hue. During our travels, we sang many songs from ABBA, Backstreet Boys, and our favourite, Let it Go by Idina Menzel. This cheered us up in the gloomy weather we were in, but we finally reached the Imperial City at around 2pm.

Dayym did the Emperor and his family have a nice place to stay! This was HUGE! The interior was beautifully painted in red with gold accents, stunning flower wall papers, and a meticulous exterior consisting of many mosaic pieces of a variety of colours. This building holds great memories of the feudal era in Vietnam during the Nguyen Dynasty back in 1805 during the reign of Emperor Gia Long. Although it was still raining, we pushed through and continued to explore the magnificent lifestyle of the Vietnamese Royals with their fancy vases and plates imported by the British, but we eventually said goodbye to their amazing infrastructure and headed for the Dong Ba markets.

The rain finally came to a stop as we left the Imperial City awaiting to haggle for cheap goods at the markets. As we arrived at 4, we walked through the narrow alleys in search for bargains. I’m not going to lie it did kinda smell in there, but I guess it was the mysterious red paste to our left and right and the miscellaneous meats including a raw tail from some animal Elyssa took. From bags to clothes to shoes to food, there was everything you could ever want in those markets. Some people’s haggling skills are too good by telling the seller people sell the item cheaper or mourning over their loss, getting a cheaper price than ever! If you need someone, Kyra’s your gal, she got a Louis Vuitton bag from 680, 000 Dong to 250, 000 Dong 👏👏!! Mr Merrifield bought some spicy mango and red crispy stuff (look delicious) for us to nibble on as we sat outside the markets waiting for everyone to finish up. Eventually, we left just after 5 and quickly stopped by the mini mart as the teachers thoughtfully bought us all a chocolate/ice cream after our long day of walking (around 17, 000 steps) and got back at the hotel around 5:25pm (thank you guys 😊). After a good hour and a half worth of rest and warm showers we headed to Why Not? Bar for some dinner.

Different to the other restaurants Why Not? had Mexican food options which everyone seems to love and devour, whilst some has some classic dishes of fried rice and beef pho. The atmosphere was inviting and the 80’s music was a bop! Lily tried to teach Luke pool but that didn’t go so good and neither of them could sink a ball for ages! If you know how to play pool please teach Luke a better technique, it would be much appreciated 🙂

We ended the night singing our school song in preparation for our ceremony with the Quang Phu Kindergarden tomorrow which everyone enjoyed singing, some lip syncing and some reading off their phones because after nearly their whole schooling career they still don’t know the lyrics to our school song!! (No hate guys)

Anyways, for our final day in Hue I would say it was quite eventually and fulfilling! I’m sad to say goodbye but we can’t wait to head to Ho Chi Minh for some new memories to be made.

Thank you Hue for all the beautiful and wonderful things you have brought into our lives (especially the cuteness overload by the kindy students) and can’t wait for the adventure to continue!

– Eva and Charlii