Hue

Hue (pronounced Hway) was the ancient capital of Vietnam from the 18th century up until the 19th, when it was moved back to Hanoi. Situated on the Perfume River (a lovely name for a smelly, silty brown very wide river),  today it is a bustling town of 350 000, who all ride motorbikes! The area has been very badly bombed at different times by France and America, and was the site of a massacre by the NVA.
Nevertheless, the remaining buildings are quite magnificent.
Our guide took us to 2 pagoda/tombs from the Nguyen empire, situated in the surrounding countryside.

Then to another pagoda in Hue itself, finishing up at the Imperial Citadel which makes up a fair portion of the city, enclosed in a 10 kilometre wall. Only 20 or so buildings remain of the 148 originals, thanks to the ravages of various wars, damage from which can still be seen.

A beautiful city, with beautiful people-an unexpected delight! Our waitress, Na, is going to write to us when we get home. She needs an English teacher to help her with her essays! Oh well, .....