Over the mountains to Hué

A leisurely bus ride took us from Hoi An to Hué. The area just south of Da Nang is famous for its stone carvers - the best in Vietnam, apparently, and our first stop was at a big retail outlet to admire (and purchase) their work. However, impressive as the statues and other stone carvings were, it would have been more interesting to have been able to see the carvers themselves at work.
A little further along the road another short stop at My Khe beach for a photo opportunity - the gigantic Buddah figure which could be seen across the bay.
Next we headed up into the mountains and over the very scenic Hai Van Pass with its remains of an old French fort and US concrete pillboxes at the top.
Arriving at Hué we check into the pretty chic Gold and immediately hop back onto the bus for lunch in town. Because it's New Years Eve any staff working are now on double time and the meal prices were adjusted up by 20%, still cheap and delicious too.
After lunch it's back on the bus for a drive through town to the citadel built for Emperor Gia Long and his Nguyen Dynasty (no relation to Huy Nguyen, our tour guide, apparently). Within the citadel's outer wall lies the Imperial City and the Forbidden Purple City. Having suffered enormous war damage, the citadel is gradually being restored and rebuilt. Damaged as it is it is still an awesome sight, pre-1968 it must have been amazing. Sadly the camera battery died as we were starting the tour, so few photos.
Tonight we are invited to a Tet party at the hotel and then at 10pm we are off out to experience a Vietnamese New Year. Chuc Mung Nam Moi.