• Emerge from the hotel to meet a cyclo driver. Hop in this exciting traditional vehicle - like a three-wheeled rickshaw - to cruise down the busy streets of Hue during rush hour. This is the best time of day and means of transportation for people-watching and sightseeing: kick back and relax as motorbikes whiz by, heading from work back home or to meet friends at a café or bar. Ride across the Truong Tien Bridge, which crosses Huong River into the old district of Hue.

• Park outside Dong Ba Market to dive right into the local life. Mingle with crowds of people shopping for dinner and watch haggling in action, everyone bargaining cheerfully for the best prices on the freshest foods. Browse through stalls bursting with fruits and vegetables, meat and seafood, to see an array of new and unusual produce only grown on this side of the world. Exit the market to continue the cyclo ride along the beautiful riverside, dotted with dragon boats anchored for the evening and small plastic chairs of outdoor bars.

• Stop at a local eatery for the first feast of the day. Start with a plate of banh beo, or steamed rice pancakes topped with delicate shrimp. Follow it up with banh nam, transparent tapioca dumplings stuffed with meaty fillings and wrapped in banana leaf. Last but not least is banh ram it, a sweeter treat made of a crispy fried pancake topped with a sticky rice dumpling. Consider this the appetizer portion of the tour: all these cakes are more like finger foods, served in small portions with different dipping sauces.

• Head back to the cyclo and digest from the first course, whilst wheeling through alleys and small winding streets within the walls of the citadel. Cross through a citadel gate to reach the next eatery. Watch expert local chefs prepare banh khoai, then top up this crispy pancake with fresh herbs before chowing down. Don't eat too much of this crispy fried goodness, because nem lui comes next. Grab one of these grilled pork sticks, wrap it in rice paper stuffed with fresh herbs and vegetables, and dip it into the accompanying peanut sesame sauce for a taste of the divine.

• Cyclo on to try the famous local delicacy that Anthony Bourdain himself considers the ""greatest soup in the world"": bun bo Hue. This Vietnamese staple is a beef soup with vermicelli noodles, served hot and well spiced, and better here in Hue than anywhere else in the world. Finish the day off with a glass of che, a sweet dessert soup full of a variety of toppings like tapioca, fruit, or beans, and served over shaved ice or coconut milk. This is the perfect snack to finish a day of gormandize. Cool off the palate and the stomach, then cyclo back to the hotel.

INCLUSION:

• English guide

• Dinner