Hué and the Citadel

The train journey down was long and pretty uneventful. The annoying %^*(%(%()% woke us up at 6 with a PM announcement and I still have no idea why. The stewardess then came in to get the Vietnamese family ready for their stop which was Doing Hoi. They got their tickets and a bit of breakfast. I rolled over and went back to sleep.

We arrived at Hué station at about 11 having dropped the Vietnamese family off and had an elderly Vietnamese lady as company for the last three hours. We got a taxi into the centre of Hué, which wasn't far and checked into our hotel which we had selected from Lonely Planet, and was called Phuon Hoang Hotel. It was a little place run by a Vietnamese couple down a little alley off the main road which ran alongside the river.

We checked into our room and then went for a wander to find food. A few guys asked us if we wanted a moto but then one offered to take us to a good place for lunch and take us round the sights for $5 each. I got a good vibe from him and so I hopped on the back of his moto and Dave on another that was nearby and he took us to a place called the Mandarin Cafe. It was a great little place and I had my usual chicken with noodles which is becoming a firm favourite.

After we finished we boarded the two motos, collected some stuff from the hotel and off we went. My moto driver's name was Tri and he spoke passable English. Dave's driver didn't speak any!

We headed south out of Hué towards the tomb of Tu Doc who was the emperor between 1848 and 1883 during the Nguyen dynasty. It was a majestic place set around a lake filled wililiesies. There are tombs there for his wives and concubines too. We wandered round for about half an hour (stupidly in the hottest part of the day) although there were other tourists there at the same time as us.

Next stop was an American bunker. It was situated on a hill overlooking the river and, according to Tri, the VC were literally the other side making it a vital location.

We visited a small pagoda next called Tu Hieu Pagoda. This was only a quick visit as it was a workimonasterytry still. The setting was quite nice - around a small lake and enclosed by forests. Tri even tried to set us up with some Vietnamese girls who were there.

We headed back into the city - across two bridges that had their own moto lane (very narrow though), which were actually railway bridges. We then headed west for a few kilometres to Thien Mu Pagoda, which is an iconic Vietnamese place. It was an octagonal shaped building, although fairly small, with seven sections and stood raised above the river on a bluff. It was easy to see why it was such an iconic building as it looked very impressive and was so different to all the other pagodas we'd seen. It also became central to various uprisings and demonstrations.

The weather appeared about to turn at this point as the wind picked up and there were some nasty looking clouds in the distance over the mountains. Dave was convinced it was going to rain but Tri was equally convinced it wasn't!

Our next stop was Hué's most distinguishing feature: the Citadel. Hué was the capital of Vietnam during the period of the Nguyen emperors and there was a beautiful palace within the Citadel walls - unfortunately destroyed by the Americans. The walls themselves remain and several buildings, and the old town has grown within the walls too.

We entered the citadel through the Quang Duc gate and passed by four of the nine cannons which represented the four seasons, and then across the moat into the main citadel area. It cost us 55,000 dong to get in (about $4US) and we passed through the main Ngo Mon gate.

Once through, we crossed another small bridge set over a pond liliesllies in and were greeted by the Thai Hoa palace which was used for official functions. The throne was pretty spectacular - all gold leaf and drapes. The hall was made from wood and was very impressive.

We walked out the back to the forbidden purple palace of which only two small buildings remained, both of which were effectively museums now although with a few interesting pots and pans in.

We met Tri back at the entrance and drove around the old city with a stop at a display of American tanks and artillery - all captured by the VC during the war - and then past the Tinh Tam Lake which was pretty stagnant. From there we headed out of the city towards the Thanh Toan Bridge. It's about 6km outside the city and it wfascinatingating drive through rice paddies and small villages to get there.

The bridge itself is a covered bridge and when we arrived we found plenty of villagers sitting there hiding from the hot afternoon sun. It was a nice setting on the river and we stayed here a while. There was a couple on the bridge and the girl was getting her palm read. Apparently if she spends $100 she'll make $100.

We headed back into the city and to the hotel and relaxed for a bit. Tri was keen to head out in the evening and take us to dinner. Dave wasn't keen but I was. He took me to a small place where I was probably the only white person for a few km. Beer was 9,000 dong for two litres (which I had to drink most of because Tri was driving). Unfortunately the menu was only in Vietnamese (unsuprisingly!) so it took a while to try and get translations from Tri and we came down to ordering something called Ech - which, from what Tri said, I thought was fish, but turned out to be frogs. Deep fried. Whole. Ate about half of them to be polite. Tasted like crisps to be honest.

The following day was another travel day so we had a lie-in and did some shopping for rice-paper pictures which Hué is famous for. We caught our bus at 2 and headed to Hoi An.