Hue

 

Outside the Citadel 

Hot, hot hue!
Hue was one of the hottest cities I visited in Vietnam. It was miserable walking around, making it rather unappealing to visit all of the sites in/around the city. I wasn't particularly impressed by Hue and would say it is only worth a visit if you are really in to citadels and/or have plenty of time to kill in Vietnam.
Though, in defense of the city, I was sick the latter half of the day and had to sweat out a fever through the night. I might have enjoyed my time more if I hadn't been ill. And I arrived in the city after a 16-hour over night sleeper bus ride, so I was already fatigued. (The bus was more comfortable than I expected, but it was hard to sleep with the erratic driving and incessant driving; but significantly cheaper than the overnight train).

 

Ruins in the Citadel 

As it was though, the city didn't have much to offer other than the citadel, dragon boat rides along the river and some temples outside of the city. I opted to only visit the citadel, which was huge! It was much larger than I anticipated, and took a few hours to venture around. Some of the buildings were rebuilt, but many still lay in ruin. Some to the point of being a mere pile of rocks. It was fairly interesting to walk around the citadel and peaceful as it was quite empty. It was 105,000 dong (about $5) to enter the citadel.
I spent the remainder of my time in Hue walking along the river and resting in my hostel. The river was quite nice, and I enjoyed the general layout of Hue. The people were nicer than in the north and the city was much calmer. But it is definitely not a must-see spot. I did a one night layover mostly to take the train from Hue to Da Nang... the most beautiful train ride in Vietnam! At least that was what all the blogs and travel sites I visited said. And the ride was rather lovely with some great views of the turquoise ocean. But again, it is not a must-see sight, and if you are short on time, I would recommend skipping it.

Hue Gratitude Journal
1. I'm grateful for warm, fuzzy blankets.
2. I'm grateful for bathrooms with toilet paper.
3. I'm grateful for a hostel close to the bus drop off point.