HUE'

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HUE’



Friday 28^th February

Our next port of call is the old capital of Vietnam called Hue (whey). It was the home of the Nguyen (phonetically the ‘win’) dynasty. The trip passed ‘China Beach’ (now called Lang Co Beach by the Vietamese). The Chinese are not well liked by the people of Vietnam so whilst China beach is on the South China Sea, the Vietnamese only recognise the Eastern Sea and not the South China Sea. It’s all very complex.



As we pressed on we found ourselves in the Hai Van Pass and entering a 6 klm long tunnel built by the Japanese. From this mountain range we were able to see the ocean waterfront and inland freshwater lakes at the same time. This area approaches the 17^th parallel that formed the border between North and South Vietnam before the reunification that took place when the allies pulled out of Vietnam. This part of the country is very narrow.



After arriving in Hue we were taken to lunch before going to the Imperial Citadel that has a flag tower that projects 37 meters into the air. The citadel was large but very barren as the French destroyed it almost completely when they pulled out in 1945. In fact, the French destroyed many important relics and buildings when they were thrown out at that time. Disgraceful to say the least as these were important heritage buildings of significance to the Vietnamese people.



After that we went to see the historical Tien Mu Pagoda and it is the tallest pagoda in Vietnam. We were then embarked onto a riverboat with dragon decorations to head back along the Perfume River to our hotel, La Residence, to prepare for a gala dinner.

Everyone was dressed in Mandarin costumes for a photo shoot and then remained in costume for an Emperor Feast. It was a great night and we all enjoyed an excellent meal that was based on Royal Vietnamese cuisine.

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