Dong Ba Market

Hue's century-old central market on the north bank of the Perfume River: conical hats, sesame candy, shrimp paste and the city's best-known street food, all at full volume.

Trading on this site since 1899, Dong Ba is the largest and oldest market in Hue and the place where the city shops, gossips and eats. The ground floor is a maze of stalls selling non la conical hats, including the famous poem hats with verses visible against the light, along with me xung sesame candy, jars of tom chua fermented shrimp and mam ruoc shrimp paste, dried seafood and Hue's distinctive purple-hued ao dai fabrics. Upstairs are clothes and household goods. The real draw for many visitors is the food corner, where vendors on plastic stools serve bun bo Hue, banh beo, banh nam, com hen clam rice and che sweet soups from early morning. Go hungry and go early, before the heat and the crowds; keep valuables close in the busiest aisles and bargain politely, with a smile, as locals do. It is a ten-minute walk from Trang Tien Bridge along Tran Hung Dao Street.