I loved Hué as soon as we arrived in the hostel district! It was a fair old trek with the backpack in tow after the bus, but the colourful street was dotted with restaurants, bars and shops, without being overdeveloped. We settled on a very reasonable $12 room and set straight out, had a wonderful meal of crispy fried noodles, found a bar with buy-one-get-one-free wine and then on to a club which was recommended by some boys we met at dinner. It was full of drunk locals playing pool, and western tourists getting down and dirty to "Gangnan Style" plus other cheesy hits! The vodkas were small, but at the equivalent of £1 or two, it didn't take long for 2 am to roll around, and for us to roll back to the room! We slept late the next day ad then took ourselfs to the Citadel, where 200 years ago the Nguyan Dysnasty resided. They had a succession of Emperors and only he and a type of servant called an Eunch were allowed inside the Forbidden Purple City. Now, the air feels heavy with history, with just a few ceremonial halls and deserted gardens left as it was heavily bombed in the war, although they are reconstructing it to it's former glory. We had an great day out to follow this, a trip on a dragon boat down Purfume River. Our guide was really great and taught us lots about the local history, as well as plenty about the country itself. We learnt that the flag of Vietnam is red because of the blood shed before they became free, and the star symbolises the 5 categories of Communism, manual workers, farmers, the army, public servants and business men, who are all seen as equal in building socialism. Most people fit into the farmer and worker categories so this is shown on the red and yellow flag with a sheath and hammer. Communism started here in 1945 after a famine killed 2 million people in a year when Japan ruled French Indochina, Ho Chi Minh was Prime Minister and convinced Vietnam to stand strong when they didn't have much left to lose. This unity propelled the country to a socialist state where 80% of people list no religion although it is obvious that Buddhism practices here are abundant. We visited the tomb of Khai Dinh, the 12th Emperor of the Dynasty, and some temples, learnt a little about Feng Shui, the concept of Ying Yang which is the good and bad in everyone, and the fact that our biggest enemy is ourself! Had a generally spiritual time and carried on up to Hanoi with lots of amazing cultural information to ponder though the night.