Old-Time Vietnam – First Impressions of Hue

I do try, to the extent I can, to learn some Vietnamese. And I can only learn it by associating it with English, Cantonese and Mandarin. As the Vietnamese pronounce it, “Hue” is the English pronunciation of “hwei” the tone is a combination of the second and third tone in Mandarin.

A mid-aged man approached me outside the train station. He dressed well and quoted a reasonable price. I then realized that I was getting into a very nice new SUV for this trip. That was a really good first impression, although the price turned out to be 4 times higher than if I did a grab bike. The journey to the hostel was short.

I was amazed as he drove through a neat, well-lit road. Le Loi Street was brimming with a festive air. This was the week before Tet (the Lunar New Year), and clearly the City of Hue filled itself with anticipation.

Very soon I arrived at the Melody Hostel. The scene reminded me a lot of my childhood in Hong Kong. Back in the 1980s or so, many merchants in Hong Kong lived in the back of their stores, particularly those who ran a family business. As such, it was a common scene where the family gathered for evening TV at the store. The owner of the hostel welcomed me, and I passed through the living room as everybody glued to the TV.

Melody, as a hostel, was a budget accommodation. It offered both dormitories and private rooms. I had a nice spacious room with private bath to myself. The room had a very high ceiling. It was sure to keep the room cool. The setup was simple. Clearly passed its days of glory, Melody was itself an establishment of the 1980s. A bit aged, a bit outdated, yet with an air of assurance: it has served its purpose for decades. I sat down in the sedan chair, and admired this clean, tidy and functional room, of which I would call home for the next five days.

I picked the Melody Hostel for its convenient location, but only upon arriving did I realize that it was actually in the middle of the tourist area. There was no lack of food choices, and I welcomed that.  But the party music played loudly well into the night. It felt surreal.  I seemed to have traveled through time into the 1980s, and yet the party music was so new that I could no longer name the artist.

I had a light meal at the party restaurant next door. People gathered at the bar to watch soccer games. My hot lemon grass tea came with a slice of lime. It made my day.

Old-time Vietnam, Hue it is.