Day 76 Monday 23rd November 2009

Johno says

We journeyed through Hue and arrived later than expected at 9am, it was strange being on a bus and seeing people go about their daily business in the horizontal position!! Once we settled into our hotel (which we found 20 minutes prior to arrival recommended in our newly purchased lonely planet Vietnam book) we set off to see what was on offer in town. Most of the sites are within a 2m thick 10km long walls of its Citadel, we saw the 37m flag tower and the 'Imperial Enclosure' which was once the Emperors residence, within the grounds was the 'Forbidden Purple City' which is a Citadel-within-a-Citadel-within-a-Citadel. Most of it was destroyed by the Americans but you could see some of the structures still there so not all bad. Then we bargained a cyclo (pedal bike) back to our hotel as we had ventured out too much to have the energy to walk back. How lazy!! After a bit of a siesta we went to the curry house next door and finished the day with some Vietnamese tea!!

Day 77 Tuesday 24th November 2009

Stacey says
A bit of Vietnam history for you! Today we went to visit some of the royal tombs in Hue. First we went to the tomb of Minh Mang, he was the Emperor who ruled from 1820-1840. Had 400 wives with 140 kids! It was a very big grand tomb he had built for himself, with lakes and bridges and finally a gated circular wall where he was buried. Then to Khai Dinh's tomb, who was the penultimate Emperor ruling from 1916-1925. He only had 12 wives and 1 son! This tomb was influenced by European architecture looking the most modern of them all. It took him 11 years to build, 2 years longer than his reign! And thirdly onto the tomb of Tu Duc. He fired blanks so had to adopt a son as none of his 104 wives fell pregnant. He had the longest reign of all the 13 Emperors 1848-83. He wanted his burial place kept secret from grave robbers so he had his 200 servants build his tomb, and then ordered for all them to be beheaded. With a little trip to a conical hat and incense stick making place for good measure. All very interesting. Then we arrived back to the hotel via a trip down the river on a dragon boat. Feeling hungry, so we popped to a café next door, I ordered a beef hot pot. I was very disappointed when a plate of raw sliced beef arrived on a plate with salad. But shortly after a hob with a bowl of boiling water arrived with some rice paper. Do it yourself beef salad rice paper rolls! Actually turned out to be a very nice meal!! Steve enjoying his spaghetti Bolognese and garlic bread! We then found the only bar playing music in the town and chilled in there for a bit before heading back.