Hue Vietnam

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Last night at around 6pm we boarded the train from Hanoi to Hue, the journey took about fifteen and a half hours. The train was not as comfortable as the train we caught in Thailand however it was acceptable and despite a few disturbances we had a fairly good nights sleep.

On arrival in Hue we checked into our hotel and had a late breakfast. After this we visited the citadel, which consisted of quite a few ancient buildings surrounded by a moat, some of the buildings contained some antiquities from when the last emporer reigned. Hue was the old capital of Vietnam but because of its situation the new capital became Hanoi as it was further north. Hue lies on the banks of the Perfume River so called because of the frangipani trees which used to line it's banks. Unfortunately these were washed away by floods many years ago but the name remains because the emporers wife thought the scent of the frangipani made the river smell fragrant.

Some of the Citadel buildings were damaged in the indochina war and the war with the French, however funding has been set aside and some of the buildings are now being restored.

Following this we visited the Royal tomb, and a pagoda this was followed by lunch and a river boat trip on the Perfume River.

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