Hue Transportation

I contracted their service after getting a tip from a fellow VTers. I enjoyed my trip with them because they are willing to tailor to my requirements and the guide is very experienced. Their standard price is USD 8 but I manage to get it down to USD 7.

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I hired a cyclo for an hour, 30000dong. A nice man, could speak english and was informative. He took me past the sights, and stopped for me to take photos. I asked to be dropped off at the market which he did for me.

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The boats taking travelers and tourists along the perfume river are called dragon boats, because they are all adorned with dragon designs. Boats come in all shapes, larger ones which can accommodate 10-15 people for cheaper tours, and smaller ones for private tours.

All these boats are owned by local families, who also live on the boat... and are docked by the riverside in the new part of Hue, where most hotels are. It doesn't matter which boat you take, there's no added luxury to any, since you'll be sitting on plastic chairs, no matter how much or little you have paid.

If you take a tour by a travel agent (we paid it 5 dollars) a light lunch is included... this is rice and vegetables. The lady of the boat, during the cruise, will come round with a menu... you can choose extra food and she'll hop off at some stage to go buy it... and prepare it for you at lunchtime.

If you decide to travel to the royal tombs outside hue by boat - which is a very scenic way of getting there, you'll need to travel by xe om (mototaxi) to some of the tombs, as they are located far from the river. There will be motos waiting for you were the boat docks, and they will ask you for 20000 dongs to get you to the tombs and back - no point in negotiating the fare here, everyone used this fix price.

The best is to pay them when they take you back to the boat, as some tried to charge people more, either by saying that it was 20000 for one way, or else by pretending you had not paid them.

The centre of old Hue, although spread on two sides of the river, is pretty compact and easy to navigate on foot, unless the heat is really too high.. in this case the best means of transportation are motortaxis (cheaper) or cyclos (more expensive). In both circumstances you'll have to negotiate the price beforehand. Car taxis are few and hard to find, so they are not always a valid transport option.

The town is pretty small, so getting around is pretty easy. If the weathers nice, which is a rare case, you should rent a bike and get around that way. Even if the weather is crappy you might be better off donning a raincoat and taking a bike. Taxies are few and far in-between and kind of pain to get once you’re away from the city center.

(last date took the bus - July 12, 2006)

Saigon - Nha Trang - Hoi An - Hue - Hanoi
Bus fare - US $ 14.00

Open Bus Ticket
An Phu Travel & Service
Address: 203 Pham Ngu Lao St.
Pham Ngu Lao Ward, Dist. 1
Ho Chi Min City

Route:
July 7 : Saigon - Nha Trang
July 8: Nha Trang - Hoi An
July 9: Hoi An - Hue
July 13: HUE - Hanoi

Point of Origin: Hoi An
Point of Destination: Hanoi

Departure time - 7:15 p.m.
Arrival time - 7:30 a.m. (next day)

Hue has a small ex-USAF airport that fields daily flights to and from Saigon and Hanoi on Vietnam Airlines. It costs 820,000 Dong for either route. The airport is 40 minutes away by taxi and will cost 75,000 to 100,000 Dong. Vietnam Airlines airport buses run to the city centre for 25,000 Dong.

Unfortunately they took down the great sign here that said, "Everybody must pay the airport tax except for diplomats and people on stretchers."