Hue

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4.4.2012

Up very early at 3 to get to the airport for our 6.40 flight. It ended up being delayed as usual and didn't take off till 8.40. On arriving at Hue we got a bus to our hotel called Valentine Hotel, which we had recommended. I managed to to a bit of haggling and got them down a bit. The staff were really nice and showed us all the things we couuld do in Hue.

We went to explore the Imperial City (citadel) the old part of the city. It is completely surronded by a high wall and a moat all the way around. We ended up getting a rickshaw around to all the sites. He showed us the old Vietnamese housed that we could look around, a few temples, and a look out. From here you could see evidence of the war, with big holes in the walls from the American tanks. We then went to a war museum, which had old armoured vehicles, tanks, big guns which you were all allowed to climb on and sit in. This was the first bit of evidence of the war we have seen. We got dropped off at a local market, which was madness so we didn't last long in there.

5.4.2012

We got picked up from our hotel and taken to the river were we boarded a boat decorated with dragons. We sailed down the Perfume River stopping off at alot of different places. Such as old Vietnamese house where our guide taught us some Vietnamese culture and about the type of Buddhism there. We were on and off the boat all the time stopping at temples and pagodas. We learnt that China and Vietnam have the same type of Buddhism, and it is a bit different to that of Laos and Thailand. We went to a conical hat and incense stick making village too. On the way back we visited the 4th emperor of Vietnam's tomb. Tu Duc's tomb. It was very grand with lakes, trees, flower bushes and a lot of architecture. There is a lot of majestic buildings and to this day they don't know exactly were he is buried. In the night we went for an Indian, which we had been craving for ages M x

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