Park View Hotel Hue

... out and about in Hue seeing the Old Citadel and Purple Forbidden City (which replicates the Forbidden City in Beijing). This palace was built here by the Nguyen Dynasty who ruled Vietnam from the 1800's to 1945. Much of Citadel complex was destroyed by American bombs in the war but is being re-built with UNESCO funding. The Citadel, Ha Long Bay and My Son Cham Relics are all designated World Heritage Sites.


After we arrived in Hue ...

... the fishing village which we really just sail past and we don't really see anything!! a little disappointing!! we head then for the Phumong Garden house where we witness some young fellows and a young girl do some kung fu!! breaking roof tiles and pushing swords into peoples necks was what we saw here! a little mental but enjoyable and great to watch! we then sail down the prefume river and visit the thien mu pagoda, hon chen temple, minh mang tomb, khai ding tomb and tu ...

... of which I never found the bottom, it gradually became shallow 15 meters down stream. It was surrounded by lush vegetation and tress with vines dangling from them. It looked like it was out of a movie. The water was freezing and I decided to jump in, as opposed to easing my way in, the adrenaline rush from the cold water erased any feeling of sickness or uneasiness that I had been feeling and "good was getting better". We swam and chatted for a few hours, then decided to head back.
Hue, Vietnam tex25

It doesn't have rain a lot in Vietnam - but we have scored as it seems to rain when we travel.
However when you do get caught in the rain all of sudden rain poncho sellers come out from no where and offer you a poncho for about 10000 dong. Still i think the best policy is just to get wet as those poncho's just make you sweat.

Hue itself has ...

... meters away from the actual tunnels (so they missed their target when bombing). The whole system is just amazing considering what they had to work with .. an entire underground village exists including a nursery where 12 babies were born. It's just incredible to see what they did especially considering the circumstances.

We may or may not have gotten lost in the tunnels while on the tour. I didn't realize that the guys in front of me ...

... that signature smile, warm and genuine - they really are an amazing people the Vietnamese - quite impossible to dislike.

Well not quite impossible. The man performing the 'organisation' on the bus was far from likeable. He was a short man with a pot marked face and scruffy appearance sporting a green Vietnam hat and a pair of aviator sunglasses. He swaggered up and down the coach bollocking all foreigners who were unfortunate enough not to ...

... apply are the larger vehicle has right of way and licence to bully you off the road. Thankfully we made it there and back safely, just making it back before the daily afternoon deluge. On our last evening we bumped into a traveller we had met in Hue and went for a few games of pool. There was a few local pool sharks at the bar dying to relieve foreigners of their dong. One wanted to play John for a beer, only he wouldn’t drink local beer, only ...

... Canadians on the bus... so after re-hashing the child throwing incident we wish each other a happy Canada day... try to come up with some interesting Canada facts..... but that was about it for our Canada Day celebrating. I would have had some beers.... but having to use the bus bathroom (if you can even call it that) was enough to persuade me to keep it a dry Canada Day. After a very cramped night in our coffins we rolled into Hanoi... and headed to a guest house for a much needed nap!!!

... wandered around uninformed and happily soaking up the atmosphere around the beautifully restored buildings as well as the ruins & even had time for an icecream before it closed. It was incredibly peaceful & despite my broken legs & weary brain it was a beautiful place to be as the day came to a close.

As I left, there were hundreds of children flying brightly coloured kites at the front of the citadel, there's not enough of ...

... with a banana filling, but it was so good she ended up eating her pastry AND the one she'd bought for me and had to go back and get me another one!

Unfortunately we arrived to late for the 8am tour of the city by boat today, so we'll chill here for a while, go for a wander later and then do the tour tomorrow.

There are some very old temples & religious buildings in the old town (it was the capital of Vietnam many moons ...