There's no shortage of poetic pairings to describe Hue (pronounced 'hway', which has caused David no end of confusion). An Unesco World Heritage site -- full of sights not dissimilar to those looked after by our National Trust, making David and I feel right at home -- this evocative capital of the Nguyen emperors still resonates with the glories of imperial Vietnam even though many of the buildings were destroyed during the American War.

But never fear the builders are here. As we have found in a lot of Vietnam, in Hue, particularly in its Imperial Enclosure -- its citadel-within-a-citadel -- there is a scalable restoration project going on to restore Hue's royal splendour. Yes it is quite atmospheric, with it's walled gardens and state palaces, but we left feeling a little underwhelmed. Give them 5 years to finish the building -- but possibly more importantly, the landscaping -- and this could be something quite special. ...Although at the pace they seem to be moving it might take them longer.

What was worth a visit was the Royal Tombs, spread out along the banks of the Perfume River. We took a motor bike out for the morning, which gave us plenty of time to explore the Tombs of Tu Duc, Khai Dinh and Minh Mang. They were far more than I was expecting: extravagant mausoleums composed of pavillions, temples, courtyards and lotus ponds surrounded by frangipani and pine trees. A very tranquil morning until David's biking ability was tested to its limits (and a bit beyond) when we tried to drive down an extremely flooded shortcut on our way back...