Fruit Gardens and Pagodas

After a really uninspired buffet lunch, we continued our long day of sightseeing in Hue. Just after noon, the sun was beating down and as my dad would say, it was "hot as blazes". But we had more sights to see in Hue and we stepped onto the dragon boat on the Perfume River.

From K - Hue and Hoi An

The boat cat. Couldn't imagine how hot it must have been with all that fur.

From K - Hue and Hoi An

Our first stop was a traditional 18th century home. My favorite part was looking at all the fruit trees in the surrounding garden.

From K - Hue and Hoi An

Vietnamese apple-type fruit:

From K - Hue and Hoi An

My favorite: Hue strawberry! Looked like a lychee inside but tasted more like a strawberry.

From K - Hue and Hoi An

Pomelo (I used to get these at the Santa Monica farmer's market): Grapefruit-like, with a thick outer peel. We also saw a cinnamon tree, which smelled amazing. I think Saigon cinnamon is famous, I'll have to look out for some after we journey south!

From K - Hue and Hoi An

Our final stop was the famous Thien Mu pagoda.

From K - Hue and Hoi An

From K - Hue and Hoi An

Built in 1601, the pagoda has been renovated many times, and it is regarded as the unofficial symbol of the imperial capital.

Most Asian tourists have umbrellas in the sun - not a bad idea on a day like today.

From K - Hue and Hoi An

Such a long day of sightseeing, but all the stops were interesting! After this tour, we had seen most of Hue, so we took a 4-hour bus ride to Hoi An, another tourist town on the central coast.