Ho Hum Hue

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Well two days in Hue is definitely enough. They just don't seem to have thier act together here versus the other cities in Vietnam we have visited. Probably something to do with the lack of things to do.

Sunday the 2nd September is Independence day in Vietnam so all the attractions are free to everybody so we took Saturday easy and joined the crowds on Sunday to visit the Citadel. This was the imperial 'city within a city' where the various ruling empires and thier dynasty's lived from the early 1800's until approx 1945. Inside the 6m high x 2.5km long wall are the deteriorating ruins of numerous ceremonial halls and temples. Some of it has been restored but much of it was heavily bombed by the americans during the war so you have to use your imagination a little..overall it was interesting but we were glad we didn't have to pay the normal $10 entry.

In the afternoon we caught a lift on a couple of mopeds approx 7km out of town to emporer Tu Duc's (Nguyen dynasty) tomb complex. Although much of this was also in ruins, it gave an insight into the splendour of royal existence... and death. Emporer Tu Duc, his first wife and his harem used this sight as thier place to get away from the responsibilities of royalty in the citadel and it is set over approx 10 acres of beautiful gardens alongside a small lake. Tu Duc and all of his immediate family are buried in grand stone tombs here. Apparently Tu Duc didn't like himself so much in the end and sketched himself a scathing once over into a huge stone plark which is also on the site. Would die to know what was written there. Again, this was ineteresting but only took half an hour to visit and we were glad we didn't have to pay.

Hue could pretty much be done in a day if you were short on time. Probably the least ineteresting of the towns we have visited so far.

Flying to Hanoi tomorrow morning.

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