Hue - Hot as the hinges of hell.

First day in Hue.  So little time, so many things to do.  Had a good breakfast (you order off the menu here rather than grazing the buffet) and headed off on a search for cash.  Many bank machines in Hoi An were cash-free after Tet and the machines in Hue seem a bit finicky.  Cash secured (we're millionaires again), we headed toward The Imperial City aka The Citadel set up by the Nguyen Dynasty from 1805 to 1945.

The  imperial City is located on the Northern bank of the Perfume River, with an area of 500 hectares and a system of three circles of ramparts, from outside to inside: Capital Citadel, Royal Citadel and Forbidden Citadel.  The Imperial City, located in the centre of the Citadel, was accessed by four entrance gates. The Noon Gate was reserved exclusively for the King's use. Other gates were available for Mandarins, wives, concubines, etc.  I'm guessing the great unwashed were denied entry.  The Royal Palace was divided into many sectors including areas specifically for use by the king, his wife, his concubines, the Queen mother and the previous king.   Located inside the Imperial City, behind the Throne Palace, the Forbidden Purple City was reserved exclusively for the Emperor and his family.

Our guide told us today that there had been 13 kings that sat on the throne here.  Some collaborated with the French giving over the power to them and some fought against their rule and were imprisoned in France until their deaths.  One king had 300-500 wives that bore him 132 children.  Yikes, he was trying to populate the whole country all by himself I guess!   Another had 103 wives and no children.  Fabulous architecture, art and history in this sprawling site. Much of it was destroyed by American bombs during the Vietnam War but some restorations are underway.

We wandered around for an hour and a half or so torturing our guide who was trying to stay out of the sun with limited success.  A smattering of the many pictures are below.   One of my favourites is of Ken photobombing a wedding party.  They didn't seem to mind much but the German tourists thought he wasn't that interesting, lol.

We tried going in the out door ...

The Moon Gate and Tourist Entrance (we are all kings ...)

I loved these doors on the King's veranda

A 1.5 tonne brass pot.  Maybe the royal hot tub?

Travelling through the grounds in style

Close up of "my doors"

Nine big-ass urns

Yet another lantern that I didn't buy ...

Before - with Ken

After - just the ladies

Having toured all the nooks and crannies of The Citadel we cared to, we set off to check out a pagoda across the river.  Sadly it was locked up and I was in no mood for a sweltering market. 100 degrees in the shade today and there was very little of that so we walked until we saw a cab and headed back to the DMZ Bar for a light lunch and a couple beer.  I guzzled most of a 1.5 litre bottle of water first in an attempt to cool down.  We met a British girl and a Dutch girl having lunch and swapped travel stories then headed in search of a spa.

Ken wanted a manicure to fix up the mess he'd made cutting his nails in the dark and I fancied a wash and blow dry.  We were directed to the Saigon Spa where for 200,000 VND and a 50,000 tip (total around 18 bucks), I had the best shampoo ever.  Instead of sitting at the sink with your head back, they had beds for you to lie on.  Immediately, I knew that I'd found heaven.  Twenty minutes later after a double wash and conditioner, accompanied by a great head and neck massage, it was time to dry my hair.  Tag team for that and I think it turned out fantastic.  Will definitely do that again but probably not here as we flying out the day after tomorrow.

Styling

Ken was waiting at the corner bar so stopped to put a Tiger in my tank before heading back to the room to catch up with myself while Ken went for a bike ride finding a not so good massage along the way.

Dinner was at La Carambole.   Food was quite good and we chatted with folks from the south of France, Corsica, Northern California and Sweden that cycled through the adjacent table. Everyone is loving it here.  Sated, we headed back to the hotel as we are touring again tomorrow; this time down the Perfume River.  Up to the room in the world's smallest elevator.