Hue

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After another night in Hanoi we then flew onto Hue, about 1hour flight.

Weather in Hue was very wet - the wet season in the central area is between about Sept to Jan, but other parts of Vietnam are dry. Temperature around 18-20 degrees, so not too cold.

Spent the first day wandering around the streets looking at all the stalls and way of life. The Vietnamese must feel the cold because they are all dressed warmly whereas John and I are in shorts and tee shirts.

Next day took a City tour, which took us out to some of the tombs in the surrounding area. These are tombs of the 17th Century kings - Minh Mang, Khai Dinh and Tu Duc. All had very different architecture, all very ornate. Gardens and buildings are laid out to represent the kings body, with a hill for the head ( where the king is believed to be buried), lakes for the lungs and two monoliths for the arms.

Also visited a small village where they make incense and conical hats. Then went onto watch a Kung Fu display - bit scary when they were flicking knives and swords around us.

After buffet lunch we went onto the Citadel which is the main attraction in Hue.

This Citadel includes the Imperial Enclosure and the Forbidden Purple City. Heard all about the kings' life in this area - about all his concubines and the way his mother was responsible for telling them how to speak to the king and in which order they would go in for his nightly romp/s.

Much of this area had been destroyed in the war, but is now being reconstructed. Finished day with trip back up river on dragon boat.

Didn't need much for dinner after big lunch so settled into a bar for a beer and spring rolls.

Following day we caught the train to Danang. This goes through the Hai Van pass, a very picturesque stretch of coast line. Weather starting to improve on the other side of this pass.

Arrived Danang and was picked up by car for 40min trip to Hoi An.

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