When I  woke up this morning it was raining heavily. I waited until it had settled down a bit then got on the bike and headed to my next goal, Hue city. 

I’m sure I’ve said it before but it  bears repeating, this is a really gorgeous country to ride through. Sure,  sometimes you will be on the noisy and crowded expressway racking up the miles, but as soon as you get into the countryside,  the landscape becomes really photogenic. So, despite the rain, I stopped a few times to take pictures 

  • Leaving Danang
  • Flooded road that I had to pass, kind of scary
  • On the way up to the mountains north of Danang 
  • Overlooking the coast
  • The mountain road

About 50 kilometers into my journey I was stopped, apparently I was entering a section of road not permitted for motorbikes so I had to divert, taking a road over the mountains instead of a tunnel through them. When I reached the pass at the top  I was met by the sight of some ruins and had to stop (the convenience of riding a motorbike). I couldn’t find much information but they seem to have been part of some kind of guardpost over the pass.

Photos of the guard post at the pass

For anyone who wants to know, it is here 

I think it’s pretty cool but not worth a trip on it’s own.

By lunch time I reached Hue, checked in to my hostel then went out to see the main sight of the city, the Citadel. Hue used to be the imperial seat during the Nguyen dynasty and this has an imperial palace today called the Citadel. It’s actually a very large area spanning several city blocks but the main. Attraction is the palace which is far smaller but also more interesting. It is kind of similar to the Forbidden City in Beijing but much more broken since it was damaged by bombs during the war. 

  • The entrance to the Citaldel
  • The main palace gate
  • One of the palaces inside 
  • Beautifully decorated corridor 
  • The corridor from the outside 
  • The courtyard of one palace
  • The emperor’s reading pavilion 
  • Some small pavilions 
  • Entrance to a ruined palace 
  • Canal in the gardens
  • Royal theater 
  • A small pavilion and garden
  • Gate through the willows 
  • I just like the look of this wall
  • A temple, apparently in active use
  • Lavishly decorated gate
  • This temple had a slightly different design
  • These lavish gates are really cool
  • Temple dedicated to the Nguyen emperor’s
  • The nine imperial urns
  • The other citadel gate,  mix between old and modern 
  • The flag tower at the front of the Citadel looks kind of ominous with the dark clouds

I spent a good three hours just walking around and expiring. You could of course get a guided tour but I think it’s more fun to see things on my own. The entrance ticket for the palace was quite expensive but I think it’s money well spent. That’s all for my first day in Hue.