Hue, Vietnam

The main attractions of Hue are the Perfume River and the Citadel and its Imperial Palace. The Perfume River was nothing special and almost was just an obstacle to getting to where you wanted to go. The Citadel is a good place to just ride a bike
around. In fact, doing this was the best part of my time in Hue. Going through tiny villages and getting a glimpse at how the Vietnamese that do not cater to tourists spend their daily lives was rewarding and interesting. The Imperial Palace was pretty
disappointing. Everything looked very new and we (Rachael, myself, and a guy we met on the train from Alaska named David) could not figure out why. That is, until we walked a little further and saw the enormous restoration project that was underway. Everything, literally, I think, in the Imerpial Palace was being restored, ruining its authenticity and charisma and causing things to look fake and unappealing.

I liked Hue more than that paragraph would make you think. This is true almost entirely because of the bike ride around the citadel. Hue is not a bad place, just the main attractions are not so major or are being made less major.