Hue

Monday January 11 (Day 9)

• It's great to have all the group back together again.
• Arrived in Hue at 1.45pm from Hanoi yesterday after a 1hr 20min flight from Hanoi. A 15km bus ride from the airport to Hue with a stop for lunch and then checking in at the Park View Hotel. Our guide Huyen providing information about Hue and the environs along the way.
• Hue is very picturesque with parks and gardens along the river. Considerably less noise, pollution and traffic than Hanoi! Blue skies and 27 degrees with high humidity made a welcome change.
• Five minutes to throw the bags in the rooms and then back on the bus for a short drive to the Citadel on the north bank of the Perfume River. The Citadel (begun in 1804) and the Imperial Enclosure are impressive buildings.
• Though only 20 of the original 148 buildings in the Imperial Enclosure remain (it was badly bombed during the French and American Wars) they give a strong sense of what the enclosure would have been like in it's heyday. The Nguyen dynasty ended here when Emperor Bao Dai abdicated to a delegation sent by Ho Chi Minh's Provisional Revolutionary Government. The moats and gardens provide a strong sense of Feng Shui.
• The Citadel has Vietnam's tallest flagpole at 37m.
• As the sun set we headed back for the hotel for dinner and an early evening in very comfortable rooms after what had been a long day's travel.
• A sleep in this morning for most with a scheduled 8.30am departure for Hoi An by bus.The opportunity for a swim in the hotel pool, a leisurely breakfast were wonderful.
• As we leave Hue we will visit the Bao Quoc Pagoda which was founded in 1670.