A quick stop in Hue

We happened to arrive at an Aussie run backpackers the day before Australia day, so it was madness all around. Louk, Rob and Karola had all made it on there scooters and by the sounds of things they'd had an amazing time too. We took a walk by the river that night taking in what was another impressively large and busy city. You only need a quick stop on Hue to take in the impressive Citadel at the heart of the city. Hue is a former capital of Vietnam, back in the 1800s. The walls and gates to the citadel are impressive and it is a world heritage, but once your inside the gates it was surprisingly disappointing and empty. Unfortunately during the Vietnam war the Viet Cong seized the Citadel and used it as one of its bases. This resulted in it being bombed by the Americans and only 10 of the original 160 sites inside survived. A large reconstruction project has began where they hope to recreate the buildings originally found on the site. It will be completed in 2015 and I would be curious to see the results. besides that the grounds within the walls of the city are beautiful and lovely to walk or bike around.

Next we were all on our way to the northernly city of Hanoi, and my last real stop in Vietnam!