Today the sun is out and the weather is glorious. We have decided to leave Hue tomorrow for Hoi An three hours further south. We want to get to Saigon by 21st if possible as Liz and Andy are leaving for Europe on the 28th. We hire bikes again today and our first stop is the Imperial Enclosure. This has been on our list of places to visit since we got here and now we have the perfect day for it. We leave our bikes with the parking attendant for the princely sum of 20p per bike and spend about 4 hours wandering the site. Half a day is about long enough to see the main places of interest but it would be easy to spend longer if you have the inclination and brought a picnic. Afterwards we head to a restaurant that specialises in imperial cuisine and is located in a colonial house in a quiet residential street. The location is superb, but unfortunately there is only one fixed menu and nothing suitable for a veggie like me. By now it is about 2.30pm as we head to another restaurant built on stilts over one of the lakes, but although they welcome us with menus, it is soon evident that they want to close and have absolutely no intention of serving us. There are few restaurants in the Citadel and we end up returning to the restaurant we ate at two days ago. After lunch we cycle around some of the quieter back streets before making our way to Dong Da market.
The hire bikes have a nifty in-built, key-operated locking system which immobilises the front wheel and means that you don’t have to carry a separate bike lock. Pity they aren’t installed on all bikes, it would make life so much easier.
The Imperial Enclosure housed the Emperor’s residence and the main government buildings and is enclosed by 6m high walls, 2.5 km in circumference. Many of the buildings were either damaged or destroyed during the French and American wars and there is considerable work ongoing to restore and in some cases completely rebuild parts of the site. It is lovely to stroll around this enclosure, which is divided into several walled sections containing temples and residences. These surround the Forbidden Purple City at the centre which was the preserve of the Emperor. It was almost entirely destroyed as a result of the wars although there are several buildings in the process of reconstruction, The number of visitors are thankfully few and it is easy to escape the other tourists and wander through the empty lanes that intersect the site.
Dong Da market is the main market in Hue. It covers a large area along the northern bank of the river. It is part covered and part outdoors and everything can be bought here. Fresh food is sold outside, and is usually displayed on rattan trays just above the floor. The smells are pungent and the array of foods, many of which we can’t begin to identify, are mind-boggling. How people avoid getting ill as a result of the unhygienic conditions continues to amaze us.