Vietnam – Hue 23/5/16 – 24/5/16

We arrived in Hue around 9PM after flying Vietnam Airways, a great flight, too short to have anything but a bottle of water given to us, and was met by our driver holding up a board with our names on. Wow we feel like international VIP jet setters. He drove us 45 minutes to our hotel. Once there a quick shower and a re packing of our cases, meant no time to visit Hue tonight.
Day 8
Breakfast at 7am, then we were picked up by our driver at 8am for a full day of touring Hue city. Today we visited the tombs of 3 Vietnamese emperor’s, Emperor Minh Manga mausoleum, Emperor Khai Dinhs mausoleum, and Emperor Tu Docs mausoleum. (apparently there were 13 emperor’s between 1802 and 1945 – before the Revolution in Vietnam). After lunch we went to a buddist temple. Then Mu pagoda, a walk through the “hidden purple city” and a river cruise. Hue city is large, and there are still many signs of its communist background. The tombs very interesting and the forbidden purple city outstanding. Prior to 1945, this central part of Hue, where the last emperor reigned from was so secret that No one could enter its massive grounds, other than royalty, or the staff who worked there. Staff were born, raised and died in the walled Royal city. However when Ho Chi Minh reigned, he decided to open it to the public and visitors to Vietnam. Not much of its original buildings stand today, due to the Vietnam War, but it has now become one of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and is being gradually restored/rebuilt to its former glory. Building work commenced in 2000 and is planned to be finished in 2025. Today we were able to see the Emperors palace, his library, a connecting corridor and the Royal Theatre. It’s an amazing place to walk around. Still to be built are the Queens palace, the Summer palace, the staff houses, and the many moats that surround the purple city.
When the day ended, (approx 4.45pm), we were driven to our hotel to pick our cases up. At 5pm our taxi arrived to transport us to Hoi An city. This took around 3 hours. Our days are full on, packed and very busy. We are exhausted but loving every minute of it. Our hotel in Hoi An is beautiful and I think we have been upgraded as we’re in a “junior suite” not bad at all. A quick shower, a bite to eat, a few emails sent and uploaded our blog, and we were knackered and in bed, as we have another full day touring tomorrow.