This Is A Lake - A travel blog

Today it didn't rain! It's been overcast all day and sometimes the skies would go dark, but my umbrella stayed safely inside my backpack. Apparently it's gonna be sunny tomorrow, when I leave... Sigh. I reserved today for a tour of the tombs of the Nguyen emperors, the same ones that lived in the Imperial Citadel. The tombs are spread apart from each other by a few kilometres, outside of the city, so you can't just walk to any one of them. You have to rent a car or book a half-day tour. I tried to get my hotel to put me in a group, but it looks like they only work wih their own tours. I could have looked online, but whatever, I let them book me a driver to show me around. We first visited the tomb of Minh Mang, the second Nguyen emperor. It occupies a vast expanse of land, with a lake, lots of trees, very green and peaceful, all around the actual structure. The tombs weren't just tombs, but small cities designed to be used by the emperor as a retreat in life...

Sigh. So, another day to explore priceless architectural and historical wonders of the world, another day that's rainy, cold, and foggy. Google Weather and my iPhone said that it would stop raining at 10:00, but it was a filthy lie. It never stopped raining. It hasn't stopped yet . After chaining boats, buses, and trains, I slept like a baby and treated myself to a fantastic breakfast at the hotel. I ate as much delicious food as I could and left at ten. They didn't have room for me in the hotel shuttle to central Hue so they sent me in a taxi at their expense. Works for me! The main attraction of Hue is the Imperial Citadel, a vast complex built by the Nguyen (pronounced "gwin") emperors much more recently than I expected, at the turn of the 19th century, when they united the north and the south of Vietnam. Looking at the state of the buildings and, well, the fact that it's an imperial citadel, I thought we'd be talking about the 17th century. Their reig...