YeinJee's Asian Journal

Interesting culture and places in Hue, Vietnam; as featured in the 3rd episode of The Amazing Race Asia (TARA) season 3.

Hue City

Huế is a historic city in central Vietnam and was the imperial capital of Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945). Hue is located about 1100km from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s capital city. It took about 25 hours of bus ride to travel from HCMC to Hue.

Complex of Hue Monuments

The Complex of Hue Monuments is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Sites; the complex comprises of 16 historic monuments from the Nguyen Dynasty. Among the monuments that featured in The Amazing Race Asia were the Khai Dinh Tomb, Minh Mang Tomb and Hue Citadel (the pitstop).

The Cyclos

Cyclo, or rickshaw, can be found in the major cities in Vietnam. I think most of the locals are not using it though; it’s more for tourism instead. I had a ride in Old Quarter during my Hanoi visit in July 2008; but the racers didn’t have the leisure as I did, as they were required to maneuver the cyclos instead.

Maneuver these three-wheels tricycles actually seemed more difficult than I thought; most of the teams actually rammed on something along their journey. One of the team actually rammed into a car during heavy traffic… luckily no one was badly hurt.

A bit about the race

One of the most boring episodes in Amazing Race Asia history. Malaysian team Bernie and Henry came in first place for the second week in a row, while Thai beauty queens Natalie and Pailin were last and eliminated.