Hue Too Hot
Trip Start
Feb 08, 2010
1
16
23
Trip End
Mar 11, 2010
Hue, Vietnam
Friday, February 26, 2010
We arrived around noon and had a few hours to explore the city, so we dumped our bags here at the gracious Mandarin Cafe (they have decent food and free internet too!) and set off to explore.
Except it was super, duper hot. We're not sure why, but today the heat hit us like a ton of bricks. We were streaming with sweat, and hopping from shaded area to shaded area. We decided to limit our excursion to the Imperial Palace and the Citadel before we called it a sight-seeing day.
Hue used to be the seat of government during the Nguyen dynasty and that's when all the fancy buildings, and the 8-metre thick wall around the city, were built. The imperial buildings were badly damaged during a typhoon, then the war with the French, and then again during the war with the Americans. Our visit saw lots of restoration work going on. New paint, rejuvenated carving work, new roofing, etc. It should be even more impressive once it's restored.
Neat Canadian piece of trivia:
The money for the signage in the Imperial Palace came from the Canadian embassy in Vietnam.
We were on our way to the Citadel when Dave become a little light-headed and I became completely strung out, so we decided to hire the "cyclo" drivers that were following us to take us the rest of the way. A cyclo is a seat built into the front of a bicycle with two front wheels. The driver steers by maneuvering the sides of the seat.
We saw the Citadel, which was largely destroyed by American bombers, and then retreated to the 16th floor panoramic bar at the swanky Imperial Hotel. We drank some iced coffee and beers, and watched Jumanji on HBO satellite in seats that were directly in front of the air-conditioning. Reviving just in time for the sunset, we went out onto the terrace and took in the pink, red, orange, and golden hues that bathed the city in a soft light.
Off to the airport to visit Hanoi!
Comments
Thanks for the great updates.
Momma alias Brenda