The Imperial City at Hue

Hoi An had so much charm and allure that we stayed a day longer than we planned, cutting our stay in Hue in half.  As it turned out this, was no big loss, as Hue had very little of interest to us.  The city’s main cultural draw is the Imperial City in the Old Quarter of the city.  Much of the complex was badly destroyed during wars with the French and again with the Americans, and there is still much construction and restoration work being done.

If I hadn’t been to the incredible Imperial City of Beijing, China, I might have been more impressed with what Hue’s Imperial City had to offer.  Then again, John wasn’t all that impressed either (and he hasn’t been to China.)  Of course the smoky air might have just been bringing our mood down.  It’s hard to get excited about something when it’s obscured by thick haze.The Imperial City has a few cool architectural details, but too not much going on.  Inside the main building is a gold throne that supposedly was used by emperors, but it’s incredibly lackluster and unimpressive.  It’s no wonder they won’t allow you to photograph it – you might reveal that there isn’t much to see here after all :).I honestly don’t know why elephants were here.  Probably just so that people could pay to ride them, though no one seemed to be doing so.One day proved long enough to explore the historic sights and a few temples, and we weren’t disappointed that it was time to leave Hue.

We boarded our second overnight train in Vietnam, heading for Hanoi, that night.  While our first overnight train (from Saigon to Danang) had been pleasant and clean, this second train was of a much lower quality.  Everything felt dingy, the bathroom was horrific, and there were mice crawling around in our car.  As we arrived in Hanoi the following morning, I was grateful that there were no more overnight trains in our immediate future.  I’m just getting a little too old and picky for some things – I guess eight months of travel will do that to you :).