Thua Thien Hue

The tour was well-structured, with a good balance of free time and not too much packed into one session. The meeting point was Madame Lan, but I received prior notification via KKday, and perhaps because my hotel was a large one in the city center, the tour bus came to pick me up in front of the hotel. The tour was conducted in both English and Vietnamese, but there were mostly Asian participants, as well as some who joined midway and some Vietnamese people, so it felt like a mixed-gender tour. Since there weren't too many participants, the bus seats were spacious and comfortable. The guide seemed to have a tough time explaining things in both Vietnamese and English. On the way there, we stopped at a cafe overlooking the lagoon and a jewelry shop for a restroom break, but there was no pushy sales pitch. Lunch wasn't royal cuisine, but it was delicious and served in a nice restaurant. However, even though we were at the same table as the tour group, there were no chopsticks or tongs for sharing, which was a bit awkward. Note that there are no restroom breaks on the return trip.

We made it back to the hotel right on time, taking back streets and other shortcuts from the extremely crowded Hoi An in the evening. The kids were able to go to sleep on time without any problems. Even though we had dinner and were planning to release lanterns by boat, which could have caused some delays, being able to get back so quickly made chartering the boat a good decision.