Hue

I left Hoi An on Tuesday morning to head the short distance north to my next stop Hue. I was a little tired because the England game was a 1am kick off the previous night but the bus despite travelling during the day was a sleeper style bus so it was really comfortable. I didn't quite nod off though because the scenery was pretty stunning outside, although the journey did take a lot longer than expected as it went straight through the middle of Danang which was really busy with traffic, and then along winding roads the rest of the way to Hue. Upon arrival the bus dropped us off just outside the city although the bus company offered free bus shuttles to their office in the centre. I had a pretty chilled out afternoon, having a look round the shops before watching the Japan v Colombia game in the evening.

The following day I went out and explored Hue for the day. Hue sits on the Perfume River and was the capital of Vietnam up until 1945. The city is rich with history being the former house of emperors during the Nguyen Dynasty. Large parts of Hue were destroyed during the Vietnam War however, but despite this there has been extensive restoration efforts and there's still lots to see. I decided the best way to explore was to go with a local on his motorbike which I'm often reluctant to do because you never know whether you can trust them, but I went with it and to be fair the price we agreed was the price I paid at the end of the day. I just told him the places I wanted to visit prior and he recommended a couple of other places and then took me to them places.

The main attractions in Hue are the tombs of former emperors Minh Mang, Khai Dinh, and Tu Doc, and the Citadel, with each of those four attractions having entrance fees. I decided I would only visit one of the tombs as they were all meant to be pretty similar, and the Citadel, although my driver also recommend this cemetery I should visit housing some of less important people from Hues history which is where I visited first. Located in the woods, it was centred round this old temple by a small lake and was actually really picturesque, many of the graves despite being a little in ruin having remains of these mosaics on. I then went to tomb of Tu Doc, which was actually a really large complex centred round this lake, surrounded with gardens and some real beautiful architecture. Apparently the emperors designed their tombs themselves during their lifetimes which meant they were very meticulously designed.

I then went to this abandoned waterpark I had read about online, which was literally in the middle of nowhere. Built in 2004, the waterpark lasted merely a couple of years before being left for ruin. Perhaps the most impressive part was this old aquarium sitting in the middle of this lake, which was basically a massive dragon. It was very eerie inside and you could tell it used to be an  aquarium. You could even go inside the mouth of the dragon. Nearby were the remains of some of the old waterslides, and further round the lake was this old stadium where they apparently used to present shows with crocodiles. My driver said that there were still crocodiles in the lake until as recently as last year, but they got removed on safety grounds as more and more people starting visiting the waterpark.

Next stop was the Thien Mu Pagoda which was situated on this hill overlooking the river. At 7 storeys high it was apparently the tallest religious building in Vietnam. My final stop of the day was the Citadel, this walled fortress and palace which used to be the home of Vietnam’s emperors. The palace grounds were surrounded by an impressive moat filled with waterlilies. Many of the structures within the walls were damaged during the war but there was extensive restoration work taking place and there was still an abundance of mosaics and carvings, seeming to primarily revolve around dragons. You probably could have spent all day exploring if you were keen on the Nguyen Dynasty as there were several museums you could visit inside but I just went and checked out the main buildings which in itself still took me a good couple of hours.

Just before leaving the Citadel there was this handicraft area with locals making all sorts of things including conical hats, lanterns and kites. It was very interesting seeing how they were made and could even make your own personalised ones. It's a shame I can't buy souvenirs as they were actually really nice. When my driver came to pick me up we went out for a couple of beers which was nice, before eventually making it back to my hostel. I went out in the evening to watch the Portugal v Morocco game, managing to find this big screen showing the game in this car park!

On Thursday I had a more relaxed day as I had pretty much blitzed all the main sights of Hue the previous day. I did go for a stroll along the Perfume River though and I particularly liked these dragon boats which were in abundance along the rivers edge. I eventually made it to the market as I needed to buy some new sandals, using my haggling skills to great effect to grab an absolute bargain. After lunch I just headed back to my hostel as it was ridiculously hot outside, catching a night bus north to Hanoi later that afternoon.