tues day 158

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First full day in Hue began with getting a bit lost! With map in hand i started out in the direction of the citadel - across the Perfume river and i should have turned left but instead I went right! The 19th century walled citadel sits within another walled city so, seeing a very old high wall to my right I thought this was it. Following this round - it was the old city wall - one though that comes to a rather abrupt end! Where I definitely had the distinct feeling of being lost. Feeling a little apprehensive and for some reason deciding not to just retrace my steps - which of course would have been the obvious thing to have done - I headed left and right a bit until I finally got to the city wall I was looking for - phew! Unfortunately though I found myself at the north gate ( entrance is only through the south gate!) so walking for about another 40 minutes and feeling pretty hungry and thirsty, I paid the entrance fee and got ripped off for a biscuit and a can of coke! By this point I was already feeling somewhat disinterested in what I was about to see! But giving it a chance I had a look around. In the early 19th century Emperor Gia Long founder of the Nguyen dynasty decided that Hue would be the capital and so had a citadel built. With some ruins being dotted in - between Thai Hoa Palace, Royal Reading Pavilion and a Royal Theatre there were some interesting things to see. Most of Hue was flattened during the Tet Offensive in 1968 ( when the north Vietnamese army launched surprised attacks on more than 100 towns in the south) until 1993 when UNESCO gave the city a boost by declaring it a world heritage site. Walking back towards the new centre of town I stopped off for a late lunch before heading back to the hotel for a bit of r and r. After having to ask for my room to be cleaned, the curtain rail to be fixed and having to borrow some bits from another room to make my room complete I had a lay down - oh after killing a load of ants by the bed! Arranging to meet with Irina and Tobias for dinner we met at a nice restaurant in town with a lady they had met in the day - originally from Mexico but been living and working in London for the last 10yrs - so was pretty fluent in English. After spending a nice evening together we decided that we would also meet for breakfast in the morning so, after arranging a not too early time we said goodbyes for tonight.

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