Chuc Mung Nam Moi!!

We arrived in Hue by train and had a ride waiting to pick us up at the station which was nice. Having a place already booked saves the hassle of lugging our packs around looking for a place to stay. After resting and fueling up on some good veggie food near our hotel, we hit the town. We walked across the river and made our way to the Dong Ba Market. A really cool place, the best market we've been to so far. Quite large with everything available from touristy junk to clothes, fruit, veggies, fish, meat, flowers and sweets. The smells of the market were quite pungent. Some stalls smelled of rotting meat and decaying fruit, while others smelled of dead fish. Some perked up your senses with sweet fruits. The sights, smells, and sounds made it quite an event.

After walking around for a bit we came across a unique vendor serving Vietnamese sweets. We quickly pulled up some plastic chairs and surveyed our options. She was serving glasses with your choice of about 6 or 7 different options. They ranged from sliced bananas with coconut, some sort of purple taro paste, Vietnamese green beans, brown beans, bits of coconut meat inside rice flour balls that were then boiled, and larger rice flour balls stuffed with jack fruit. All of these were warmed by a small fire underneath them. You could pick and choose which ones you wanted in your glass, a bit of ice was added along with a splash of coconut milk and nuts if wanted. For a mere 3000 Vietnamese Dong (about 20cents) you had yourself a delicious treat. We had three glasses!

After wandering the market we headed back across the river and strolled the streets towards our hotel. It was the night of Tet so were interested in seeing what excitement would take place around town. We were a bit wiped out from walking around all day in the heat though. After dinner we laid down for a bit and were rudely awoken around midnight by popping fireworks over the river. We couldn't see them from our balcony so after a bit of rustling we hustled down the street towards the river to catch some fireworks. They lasted a good 20 minutes, but the last one popped just before we got within viewing distance. So our first Tet in Asia ended with us on the banks of the river in Hue smelling the fumes and seeing the smoke from the fireworks. Chuc mung nam moi! Year of the Golden Pig!