Day 10 - Hue (The Imperial Tombs)

 

As per every day now, I woke up very early in the morning to catch the bus to see the imperial tombs around Hue. The day was grey and humid, with its very angry dark clouds ready to unload their fat raindrops. The journey however was very nice. My little group was formed by 7-8 people mostly from UK, Germany and Australia. There was also one Vietnamese woman from Hanoi visiting Hue for business and, having half a day free, she decided to go visiting the surroundings with an organized tour. I generally feel quite skeptical about organized day-trip with lots of foreigners, but this one was a good one overall. I felt a little bit sleepy in the morning but the I ended up chatting all the way with the Vietnamese woman and our guide while, the boat driver like in a film, was driving the boat with his feet while reading slightly bored the local newspaper.

The day went through very quickly. The tombs were very beautiful, showing even more the great influx of Chinese style and culture in Vietnam. Our guide was very well prepared and fortunately the tombs (which are more proper 'palaces'' rather than ordinary tombs) were not crowded of tourists but pretty empty. It was a great atmosphere that I greatly enjoyed.

Once back in the hotel, I arranged my bus to Hoi An for the morning after and went to eat to a nearby guest house. Nothing really spectacular in terms of nightlife, the streets were pretty desolated around 11pm. I am in my room now, recollecting the pictures of the day, and repacking my bag properly. I am very curious to go to Hoi An tomorrow. They say it is like diving straight back to the past. We will see. Time to rest now.
Goodnight!