Gullible's Travels: The Imperial Citadel

We woke this morning to sunshine. ( the first we've seen since we left Laos)

And what better way to celebrate than with a trip to a UNESCO world heritage site (yes, another one), The Imperial Citadel.

As well as its UNESCO badge, it's also one of ten Special National Heritage Sites, so expectations were high.

Built in 1010, it was the home of the Vietnamese royalty until 1810, when they upped sticks to Hue.

(Coincidentally, that's exactly what we're doing in a couple of days.)

Building works nearby in 2002 revealed a lost part of the Citadel, which is still being excavated.

Inside the complex, there were several pavilions, each with a different exhibition, ranging from roof tiles and pottery to bafflingly, an exhibit of medieval France.

Modern day Toulouse got a look in too, although JB (who used to live there) said he couldn't see his former house on any of the pictures.

Suspicious.

Here's a selection of the better bits we saw:

In 1885, the (brutal) French imperialists ( possibly from Toulouse) came and spoiled things somewhat by using the Citadel as army barracks.

The Japanese used it as a prison camp in 1945. It's obviously a versatile space.

From 1954 to 1975, it was the headquarters of the North Vietnamese Ministry of Defence during their (heroic) struggle against the (brutal) American imperialists.

We went down the steps and entered Bunker 67, the nerve centre of operations.

Here we saw the superior technology that brought about the glorious victory, and most thrilling of all, the Thermos flask that won the war.