La Residence Hotel & Spa Hue on Slow Magazine

8/2/2019 La Residence Hotel & Spa Hue on Slow Magazine

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as big-time tourism courts Vietnam, its stillan unhurried and untrammelled escape.BEVERLEY HADGRAFT explores.

photo essay by JOHN BANAGAN

happiness

THERE IS AN exercise in trust thatworkplace psychologists like to get youto do. You stand with your back to a

colleague, close your eyes and allow yourself to fall into the ir arms.

I am reminded of this as I crossthe road in Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam,because stepping into the onslaughtof moto r scooters, praying they willswerve around you (they always do),really is an exercise in trust.

Its not the rst instinct you expect tond yourself contemplating in Vietnam.

For most Australians, especially in Ho ChiMinh, thoughts are still with the war, andthere are plenty of reminders of that.

At the beautiful Caravelle Hotelwe sit at the roof bar and are remindedthat 50 years ago, war correspondents satin our place. In fact, it was so well knownas their favourite haunt it was bombed.

Just outside Ho Chi Minh are theCu Chi tunnels, a 250-kilometre-long,human worm farm where the Vietnameselived and hid from the American invasion.

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Lessons in


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Vietnam is fascinating. It is acountry that encourages contemplationand to question what was, what is andwhat will be.

For while I have encounteredseveral Australians still struggling horribly with the trauma of that war,the Vietnamese, whose land and peoplesuffered terribly, appear to hold nogrudge against their invaders.

This is partly because theyre a youthful culture; 60 per cent of thepopulation is under 40 with little memoryof the past and a famous optimism aboutthe future. Add to that a Buddhist faiththat encourages forgiveness and a culturethat prefers to care for its communityrather than its past, and you understandthat there is more to this narrow strip of a country than a war, and rice pancakes.

Now is a good time to visit Vietnam before the global brands muscle in totake advantage of a bo oming economy,more oh no, not Bali again tourists

discover its attractions, and while pricesremain so cheap you can stay in luxury forthe cost of a seafront apartment at home.

And heres another subject for yourcontemplation: What are the ten senses?Ten? Oh, yes! At Hoi Ans Life HeritageResort, they will tell you that on top of the usual smell, sound, sight etcetera,guests should also indulge their senseof local culture, environment, harmony,sixth sense and excitement.

The resort offers traditional painting classes, Vietnamese language classes, dailyTai Chi sessions and free bikes to explorethe town or visit the local beach. Along with most hotels here, they also have goodspas, and I cant help wondering whyso many of my girlfriends prefer to visitSingapore or Hong Kong for their girlstrips away; Hoi An is a much better bet.

Its French-Chinese-Japaneseheritage means it is stunningly beautiful,a charming riverside town all brightochre pagodas and temples.

heres another subjectfor your contemplation:What are the ten senses?Ten? Oh, yes!


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The French have left their legacyin the form of be autiful breads, bakeriesand sharp, creamy yoghurt. The coffee isfamously good, especially served iced with

a dollop of condensed milk, and there isa rainbow of tropical fruit and vegetables.

If you are inspired by dishes such ascrispy pancakes, spring rolls, herb-ladensalads, clay pot casseroles, noodle soupsand sumptuous seafood such as clamsand lemongrass or barbecue squid withlime and chilli, cookery schools line up toteach you to make them. Ingredients areeasily available and techniques simple.Having tried several, I can tell you thebest is the Red Bridge cooking schoolin Hoi An. They take you round themarket, recommend cooking implementsand then have you preparing every itemfrom scratch. They will also cater for

vegetarians. You even get a boat tripthrown in.

And talking of b oat trips, there areplenty of th ose in Vietnam and, while thewaterways arent exactly pristine, theyrepicturesque enough and a good way toescape the bustle. You can rise before the

sun to visit the oating markets on theMekong Delta from Ho Chi Minh, go outwith the shermen in Hoi An, or putterdown the Perfume River at Hue.

It was in Hue that I took anincredibly slow boat seriously, duckswere overtaking us from our hotel,La Residence, the beautifully restoredformer French Governors home. Thereare endless pagodas to visit, but to myeternal sadness we only had time for a

visit to Thien Mu, fortunately one of theprettiest religious buildings in the country.I sat in quiet meditation, watching traineeBuddhist monks chant in the temple.

The most popular attraction inHue, however, is the Citadel, formerhome of the Emperor. It was bombedduring the war, but is also being painstakingly restored, and there arebrilliant animations which give youa good idea of what it would have been

like when the emperor of this old capitalwalked through the front entrance,anked by his mandarins, elephants

and soldiers. It is still suf ciently intactto be able to see the Forbidden City


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where he and his family lived andthe park where he played with his princes.

Hue is a great stop, a peacefulopportunity to re ect on the countrysChinese and French history, and sinceits a university city it is exceptionallyfriendly and there are plenty of English speakers.

Of course, the most famous boatride of all is Halong Bay, a three-orfour-hour drive from Hanoi. A wordof advice here: you get what you pay for.If you are going to be stuck on a junk fora couple of days with an unknown groupof fel low travellers, you might not wantto go for the budget option. If you werenteven thinking of going the budget option,book a cabin on The Emeraude, a replicaof a paddle steamer that cruised pastthese limestone formations in the early20th century.

If you want a different perspectivefrom which to view the oating shing

villages and explore the caves, youcan request kayaks.

My last few days in Vietnamwere spent at the Metropole in Hanoi.One of Vietnams grandest hotels, itis in the league of Singapores Raf esor Londons Ritz, yet still affordable byAustralian standards, and was the sceneof g reat excitement when Angelina Jolieand Brad Pitt stayed there. For thoseof a more serious and literary bent,Graham Greene stayed there also.

It is worth staying in a decent hotelin the major cities an oasis of calm is

very welcome after a day of road-crossing,and the Metropole is worth visiting forthe lunch alone as famous as the Ritzshigh tea or Raf es cocktail hour. It is alsoa very convenient ten minutes from theOld Quarter, Hoan Kiem Lake and thefamous water puppet theatre a sort of splishy splashy Punch and Judy with livemusic and reworks.

Vietnam is one of only vecommunist regimes left in the world.

Loudspeakers in the streets give outgovernment messages, and at 5 am everymorning, the government encourageseveryone to get up and exercise.

Amazingly, the Vietnamese allrise and obediently do exactly this and,on my nal morning, I walked aroundthe lake to nd the pavements teeming with Zumba classes, yogis, tai chi fans,runners, walkers and badminton players.One group of men had even erecteda temporary gym, performing chin-upson a piece of scaffol ding.

Watching all these impromptusports centres, a complete contrastto the air-conditioned, state-of-the-art(and almost empty) gym back at my hotel,I am reminded of a comment one of thehoteliers made to me about the can-doattitude of the Vietnamese. It perhapsexplains how their armies of peasantswere able to see off their superpowerinvaders. And, perhaps, it is the reasonthey are moving forward rather thanlooking backwards.

Either way, as I was invited to join in Iremembered a saying: The rst to apologiseis the bravest, the rst to forgive is thestrongest, the rst to forget is the happiest.

Lessons in happiness?You know where to go.

You can y direct to Ho Chi Minh withVietnam Airlines or Jetstar. Internal ightsto all other destinations with Vietnam Airlinesare ef cient and good value.

The Caravelle:www.caravellehotel.com

Life Resort, Hoi An:www.life-resorts.com

La Residence Hotel and Spa:www.la-residence-hue.com

Metropole:www.so tel.com/gb/hotel-1555-so tel-legend-metropole-hanoi/index.shtml

The Emeraude:http://www.emeraude-cruises.com

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La Residence Hotel & Spa Hue on Slow Magazine