Arriving in the developed city of Hue was a little disappointing after the quaint feel of Hoi An, but the areas around the Perfume River that ran through the centre were quite pretty. We walked quite a distance to find somewhere to stay a little way from the main tourist street, and were rewarded with a huge A/C room with an amazing view over the rest of the city from our balcony for only $10!

On our first day we visited the Citadel, an old fortified city which was once home to the Vietnamese Emperors and royals. After the initial grandeur of the entrance and surrounding moat, we started to feel a little disappointed as we entered the Imperial Enclosure. Although the old buildings remained, they were now accompanied by tacky gold plastic lion bins by the dozen and large temporary pillars which were covered in what can only be described as bad wallpaper. The areas which were undergoing maintenance were strewn with blue tarp and litter. We did manage to find a secret garden with lots of water sprinklers which made us feel a little better after standing in them for a while! The second half of the grounds were much better, as the restoration work was complete and there seemed to be fewer tacky additions. One of the most impressive buildings contained the urns of past emperors. Outside were some quite amusing statues, which looked like lions trapped inside red telephone boxes?! After walking a little way of the main tourist circuit, we discovered a beautiful restored house with a Chinese-style pond and garden. It was so quiet there, we stood for a moment and remembered what silence was like. We managed to enjoy about 30 seconds of peace before a scooter zoomed past! Overall I'd say we were still pretty disappointed by the Citadel as a whole. They are obviously spending a lot of money restoring the place, but it doesnt seem to be aimed at preserving all of its original features which seems a real shame.

On our second day in Hue we considered visiting some of the Royal Tombs which surround the city, but it seemed to be quite costly even if you went as part of a tour. We weren't sure if it would be worth the money having visited some sites with similar architecture in other countries, so instead we took it easy and saw a little more of the centre of Hue. The market was quite interesting to look around, being as much of a market for locals as for tourists. We also took a stroll alongside the Perfume River and found possibly the world's biggest conical hat hanging from a tree!

In the early evening we boarded our sleeper bus to Hanoi. The bus was pretty plush on first impressions, with seats that converted into proper fully-flat beds. However, the beds were obviously designed for teeny Asian people rather than elongated Westerners and didn't seem very consistent space-wise. I landed a pretty good seat with lots of head room, while Ben's bed was far too short and he couldn't sit up properly. I felt a little sorry for him, until I remembered that my bed on the sleeper train to Thailand had been half the size of his :p The evening past quite quickly as we got chatting to a couple from England, Jess and Pete, and shared travel stories.

- S