By late afternoon we arrived at the Serene Palace Hotel in Hue. It is a rainy and cool evening. We took a short walk and enjoyed a meal at the hotel. Their Pho is very good. The next morning we planned to visit the Citadel - the Imperial City, a World Heritage site. We left in the rain which became very heavy. After 30 minutes are shoes were squishing water and we gave up going and returned to our apartment.
The alley where the hotel is located.
We did stop for lunch at a French Bistro to warm up and watch everyone coping with the weather. Hot chocolate and a croissant was my lunch which helped me forget my soaking wet feet. The next day was to be wet again and so we decided to visit some famous caves since it does not rain in a cave.
As it turned out, it was not as wet as predicted. The drive there was very long - for me anyway. 4 hours there and another 5 back. These were some of the largest caves in Asia. The height inside at times reached 72 meters and about 150 meters wide. Very impressive. Paradise Cave stretches for 31 km and you can book a tour and camp overnight for a few days. We did the 1 km walk.
Our first cave required a boat trip for about 30 minutes and then it took you through a large part of the cave before docking and letting you walk out for a bit.
It was another hour to get to the next cave - Paradise Cave. We had to do a hike up the mountain to get to the opening. We were lucky with the weather and I was enjoying the cooler air.
View from our walk up the mountain. The next day it was warm and sunny and so we headed off to the Citadel. It is not really old - 19th century and it suffered a lot of damage during the war.
Since it was our last day, we had dinner in town. We found a little family run restaurant - The Mandarin. The owner is an accomplished photographer. Frank could not resist asking him about his cameras.
Frank and Mr Cu discussing lenses. We purchased a calendar with some of his work. The food was simple but very delicious. Tomorrow, we fly to Hanoi.
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