May 27: Hue!

banana crepe breakfast at the homestay :)

Imperial City of Hue!

became emperor when he was only 7, and led a revolution against the French when he was 16! Then banished to one of France's colonies in central Africa ://

king boots + queen slippers. dragons are a kingly symbol; the phoenix represents the queen.

pretty inlay

this was an incredible caramelized eggplant dish

It was very hot.

After a rest in my room, I found Hayley at a coffeeshop that sold her vegan Vietnamese coffee, which made her very happy.

When it was marginally cooler, around 4pm, we went to visit a private collection of antique ceramics because we had read online that the surrounding gardens were beautiful. It was true. 

And there was art!

A family member showed us around and then served us tea and "cake" which seemed to us like unfamiliar little candies :) 

Then we walked a few minutes down the road to a famous pagoda:

...which included an offering of plastic water bottles

Then we watched the sun set over the river! A lot of people (seemed like mostly locals) were out on paddleboards, which was fun to see.

*~golden hour~*

an old woman tried to sell us these fish but couldn't explain what they were for

The fish were eager to escape.

The sunset continued to be beautiful.

Everyone was eating something called "tao pho" out of cups; it looked like white custard with dark brown tapioca pearls. The internet translated it as "tofu brains." Yum!

Then we had dinner at a vegetarian restaurant that seemed very popular with locals. 

The local specialty is these tiny dumplings wrapped in banana leaf; I ordered one of each and could not tell you what they were made of. Some were more appealing to me than others but I was happy to try them all!

we added a plate of sautéed bok choy and mushrooms for good measure. Each dish we ordered cost about a dollar!

Then we went out hunting for snacks for our travels the following day. I thought this seemed like a particularly fun Vietnamese flavor:

Our last night together in Vietnam! The next day, I flew to Hanoi and Hayley flew to South Korea!