We got a bus from Hoi An to Hue, which took us past the Bach Ma National Park - lakes set in forested hills. It was a rainy day, our first one in months, so the park looked a bit misty and drab. We were looking forward to another bargain hotel - 4 star Camellia Hue Hotel - £19.10 per room per night including breakfast and bicycle hire. Hue is a fairly big town but it wasn't as busy as others we had been to. The bus dropped us at a central location, so we were able to quickly find and walk to our hotel. We were greeted at the front of the hotel, taken up in the lift to the 10th floor reception and were greeted at the lift door by the reception staff who took us to our table for welcome fruit drinks and a plate of fruit. Our room was the best yet - what you would expect from a 4 star in the U.K. Bathrobes, electronic scales, fruit bowl, iron and ironing board, hairdryer, in-room safe, coffee making facilities and even a lap top to use for free. Hue was the imperial capital of the Nguyen dynasty from 1802 and came to an end 1945 when Bao Dai abdicated and Vietnam became a republic.
We found Hue to be very relaxed and not particularly busy. We walked via one of the two bridges across the river to the Citadel. Hue's river is known quite romantically as the perfume river. The citadel was the home of the Nguyen family and resembled the Forbidden city in Beijing. It was carpet bombed during the Vietnam War (or the American was as it is known here) and much of it was destroyed. The Vietnamese are doing a great job of restoring it.They apear to be recreating it using the original materials. A video shown in one of the buildings shows a CGI recreation of what it should look like. We spent a couple of hours here wandering round the grounds and buildings. We then walked up the river bank to a very pretty pagoda Thien Mu - like a tiered wedding cake. See Paul's photos. We walked back to the hotel and had been on our feet for 5 hours. Clearly my foot was better! The next day was a baptism of fire for me. I was back in the saddle and we were going to explore the countryside out of town and the Thanh Toan covered bridge on our free hotel bikes. Paul led the way through the traffic and through a scary roundabout - there are no rules on Vietnamese roundabouts, most of the traffic moves anti-clockwise and it's every man for himself. After getting lost and following a dual carriageway that suddenly ended in the middle of nowhere, we got back on track to ride through the open fields. The Thanh Toan bridge is a wooden 18th Century bridge with a tiled roof. It has been restored many times over after flood and storm damage. See photos. We stopped for drinks after our 35 minute ride out there and Mrs Yeu, a local 79 year old fortune teller chatted to us; guessing our age and boasting about her own (she did have fabulous skin!). The hotel room scales indicated that at last I was losing weight 5lbs - the cycling was paying off. Our final full day in Hue was spent on a huge bike ride south of Hue to visit the Nguyen Dynasty tombs a round trip of 36km. We set off after 9:30 but the traffic was pretty busy. Motorbikes cut us up, bikes, motorbikes and cars pulled out from side streets without even looking. I was a nervous wreck after about 30 minutes riding. I had to stop and regain composure, my hands were shaking. We had also got lost again - I had suggested a turn off as the name of the road was familiar to me. This took us along a narrow road that crossed the railway tracks - often five vehicles at a time would be crammed into the road. A one point, I was being overtaken by a motorbike, whilst being undertaken by a car - arrggh! The correct path was thankfully on a quieter road and we enjoyed the rest of the 80 minute journey to the Minh Mang Tomb. Constructed in the 1840s to house the tomb of Minh Mang. It was an immense affair - huge grounds and lakes with temple after palace after bridge leading to the tomb, which is a closed area. Very pleasant and relaxing and hardly any tourists. We spent an hour here before backtracking to Khai Dinh's tomb on the same road. Emperor Khai Dinh died in 1925, so his tomb was more modest in size but still extremely elaborate and impressive. There were two huge stone staircases up to the tomb - just what we needed after a thigh burning, nerve shattering ride. A quick run round the complex before heading back - we wanted to avoid the traffic. Thankfully, the way back was quieter and we made it up and down the many hills. We are seriously fit now! Thanks for the messages, take a look at Paul's photos. Phong Nha caves and Ke Bang National park next. Thanks for following!