By Henry and Lola
Today has been an amazing day! We began today, with another delicious breakfast at our previous hotel, Maison Belle. As the day quickly became quite hot, some members of Vietnam grey had a refreshing swim, whilst others packed to escape the Vietnamese climate. Following this, we departed the ancient city of Hoi An on a journey to a new destination, Hue.
During the three-hour bus ride, we observed the mesmerising and utterly breathtaking Hai Van pass. The name Hai Van in Vietnamese means, ‘the clouds touching the ocean’. As a group, some amazing photos were taken and we explored the area, embracing the views as we went. Many of us were very interested in the history of this area. The Hai Van pass was used by the French during the late 19th century, as it has an excellent view point of the surrounding land. They were able to control the land and those who passes through this area, as there is ocean and steep mountain terrain surrounding it.
After a bus ride filled laughter and excellent music, we eventually arrived at our destination, the Asia Hotel. Once settling into our rooms, we soon departed on a scenic walk along the Perfume River. We quickly discovered that Hue is a historic and imperial city. This was due to the Dragon boats seen on the river, which were used by the king, architecture and general appearance of the area.
On return from our informative walk, we were quite excited to hear that there would be a ‘special’ dinner. We all eagerly got ready for this special dinner, and tried our best to look nice for what was to be a very exciting night. Following a beautiful night walk through the lively streets of Hue, we learned that our ‘special’ dinner was a traditional royal dinner. We were greeted at the door with colourful and cultural headpieces and gowns. Vital to the ceremony, a king and queen must have superiority over others in the room. Two students were chosen, myself (Henry) and Anika. We listen to traditional Vietnamese music as we enjoyed our food. We immersed ourselves in the culture, cuisine and traditions of the ancient Vietnamese feudal system. As a result of this experience, we learnt that the king is so powerful that only he can wear the colour yellow. Consequences for people that wear this colour, was either prison or death. This shows that the king was very powerful, which is why he had music played for him at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Overall, today included many opportunities to learn about the geography, history and culture of Vietnam.
Lola: Hi Mum, dad, Ted and Jonts – hope you guys aren’t missing me to much! See u all in 5 sleeps xx <3 love Lola.
Henry: Hi Dad, Mum and Elliot, I hope that things are going well and see you very soon! Love Henry.
Special thanks to additional photos from Veronica, Francesco and Hai
