The city of Hue (pronounced way and not huey as we've heard it called) is really not that interesting. But since we've gotten some requests, here's what we saw:
Our first stop was to the Citadel and Imperial Palace, which from 1802-1945, was the imperial capital of the Nguyễn Dynasty. We weren't all that impressed with the architecure and just don't think that the temples we've seen in Vietnam are anything great-especially because of their heavy use of blinking lights. At the same time, however, we have a newfound respect for cheesy restaurants in the US for their spot-on replication. Here's one of the gates in to the palace that is respectable.
The city was also the sight of the Battle of Hue, during the 1968 Tet Offensive, which left nearly all of the grounds in ruins. The Vietnamese have only recently put effort into restoring it since they can now sell tickets to see it.
Following the citadel we took a ride on cyclos around the city to find out if we were
missing anything. It turns out we weren't, but our drivers were nice and put in a good hour of work pushing us around.
In the evening we went to a restaurant which specialized in "Imperial" food. All of the ingredients were carefully carved into peacocks or flowers, and while we still prefer Thai food, it was a fun experience.
We left Hue enroute to Hoi An, which has proved to be our favorite stop in Vietnam so far. More details to come...
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