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8 July: Hue

We finished up and ate our breakfast of rolls, avocado and tomato, before we met J & B in the reception of the hotel. From there we headed across the street trying to flag down a bus that would take us to Hue. The hotel receptionist tried to assist us, but after 30 minutes she left and we struggled on for another 15 before a bus stopped. They wanted 50 000 VND which was to expensive for a local bus, within minutes another bus stopped. It was an aircon tourist bus also heading for Hue, completely empty except for 4 passengers or employees in the bus. We settled on 40 000 each and jumped on heading to Hue, only to stop a km down the road for breakfast, they hadn't had any yet. We decided on a filter coffee although it wasn't all that enjoyable.

All aboard we continued to Hue, the scenery almost mesmerizing. The total trip was barely 1 &frac12; hours, we arranged that they would drop up near a hotel, but in the end they stopped at a petrol station and we walked to the guest house district, about 2 km away. Stopping in an area filled with guest houses John went with a motorcycle driver to check out a room for $7, while I looked around in the closer vicinity where we were. All meeting back we discussed the options and went to look at a quaint hotel I had found for $6, including satellite TV, refrigerator and fan. After deciding to stay there we headed out into the city.

The main attraction in Hue is the Citadel, built in the style of the forbidden palace in China in 1804 with its 2m thick, 10 km long walls. The citadel contained many residences of the kings and queens who ruled as well as two lakes and other temple structures. The most sacred being the citadel within a citadel within a citadel where the forbidden purple palace was located. This was reserved only for the emperor, his wives, eunuchs and in excess of 100 royal concubines. Much of the citadel was badly damaged during the Vietnam war although many parts are in the process of restoration, some having been completely restored. We spent almost 3 hours walking around within the enclosed city, exploring. It was a very hot day so every time we found a shady spot we first sat down for a bit to relax. Leanne at one point had enough of the sun and decided to do like the vietnamese do - she walked the rest of the way with an umbrella! It was already way past lunch when we finished so we sat down for a street lunch just down the road. It was spicier than we expected and we were forced to down a 1.5 L of water within 5 minutes to subdue the burn.

From here we headed to the market, at least thats what we thought and what the kind old lady told us. To bad she couldn't read the map, after a km we asked someone else just to ensure we were still on the correct road, luckily we were, but in the wrong direction. We walked back, by the time we reached the river it was almost 3 or 4 km we had walked, but the scenery was nice and we enjoyed the stroll down the river in their well kept parks.

Arriving at the market it was alive with activities and one almost wanted to get out as soon as you got in. The first part was filled with tourist souvenirs, thereafter daily household products and then fruits and vegetables. We walked through the whole market looking at the souvenirs and trying to find a nice looking diary without success. Afterwards we headed to the fruit market, buying a pineapple, watermelon, two mango's and ramputans. The pineapple they cleaned and cut on a plastic bag on the dirt road. We would have wanted to eat it there and then, but opted to rather wash it first.

Next we headed to the shopping mall next to the market to try and find cereal, no luck! We had had enough of walking around and headed back to the guest house with what we had bought and to dinner at an adjacent restaurant. The day had taken its toll and we were glad to lay our heads down knowing we would have to be up early the next day.