Hue - Little Beijing

Having bid Jess goodbye, I carried on with my adventure southbound, alone. And so, after around 12 hours of train ride, I finally arrived in Hue, the last imperial capital of Vietnam.

As usual, having disembarked from the train, I am welcomed by troupes of touts and taxi drivers, who just can't wait to drag me into their taxi/van but I casually waved a "No" gesture and replied politely with "Homh" (which meant No, Thank You in Vietnamese) and they just left me alone. Gracefully I trotted our from the train station and headed towards the city center.

Walking along the banks of the Perfume River, I could vaguely see the Imperial Citadel at the opposite bank. But the sun was scorching hot and I was starting to sweat like mad, I had to hasten my steps to reach my hotel. I never had to worry about sweating when I was in Hanoi! I had booked a room in a hotel whom had received wonderous ratings from www.agoda.com but it turned out to be a big disappointment, which I'll unfold the details later.

My room wasn't really ready, so I took sometime to explore around the hotel, resetting my bearings. Around an hour later, my room was finally ready for me to check in. I was a little bit dismayed with the room, which was in the middle of the hallway with a window overlooking the corridor, and another one overlooking the staircases! The ventilation was terrible, explaining the mold infestation on the ceiling. Moreover, the floor was still wet indicating it has just been mopped not long ago! 

I was not going to let this ruin my day, so I turned on the air condition, hoping it would dry up the floor board, and I headed for a stroll in the city. I first stopped at the famous Mandarin Cafe to try its pancakes, and get a copy of Mr Cu's excellent guides on exploring the city!

I crossed the Perfume River and starting heading towards the Imperial Citadel. Just like Hanoi, the streets in old Hue are fairly narrow, and occasionally you can feel motorbikes brushing beside you very closely. The Imperial Citadel of Hue is just like a mini replica of the one in China, but it was badly damaged during the Vietnamese War, and the undergoing restoration works barely uplifted it from its current state of ruins. Too bad.

I only needed around 90 minutes to finish exploring the Imperial Citadel; I wondered if the old Emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty did realize how small their palace were, compared to the one in China? I sat on the roof of the southern gate, gazing at the setting sun, together with the other tourists, enjoying the cooling breeze. Somehow I missed Hanoi and it's chilly weather!

By nightfall, I took a stroll at the Perfume River's waterfront where there's a local night market, which mainly caters for the local people. Nothing fancy actually, especially if you've been to Chiang Mai's night market or Hong Kong's Temple Street. 

When I've returned to my hotel room, the floor was still disappointingly wet and the room humid. Somehow I regretted having booked 2 nights in this hotel. I forced myself asleep as I had a long day ahead of me tomorrow, as the tombs of the Vietnam emperors await me.