03-11-2026 Walk

Slept pretty well for having dozed so much the previous day, but I'd had a rough 24 hrs, lasting into Tuesday (<>). Got up and had an appetite for the first time. We showered and went to a nice little French bakery/café nearby for breakfast. I definitely felt an energy deficit on the short walk there due to not eating enough to replace my calorie consumption. The banh mi was decent, I should have skipped the chocolate donut, coffee was okay (I expected better quality). My stomach felt just a little uneasy after breakfast. So, we went back to the Airbnb (this was a nice spacious one) and planned our visit to the Hue Imperial Palace grounds. Also put our small load of hand-washed clothes in the dryer. Took a Grab taxi over to the grounds, it cost a little over $1. Was misting/drizzling when we got there and continued that way pretty much through the 2.5 hours we spent there. The grounds were huge, and I think we walked through nearly all of the buildings. Some were very impressive, especially the throne room (no pictures allowed), and the tile work and landscaping were at times very nice too. We exited through a side gate, and I convinced Ann to walk over to the Hue Citadel nearby. Google Maps directions were confusing, and I ended up taking us on a wild good chase, since the Citadel actually represented the outer stone works and moat surrounding the Imperial Palace grounds. Ann figured it out, and we got another Grab taxi to go to a restaurant near the Airbnb for lunch. I was tired and irritated at Ann for taking so long to figure out how to hail the cab, so I ended up walking back to the Airbnb while she was eating. It worked out okay. I read and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. We walked to a little market in a nearby mall in the late afternoon and got some stuff for dinner and breakfast the following morning. Evening was quiet, packing up stuff for an early start to the following day. My appetite was back, ate a couple of little meals (noodles and pizza) to start catching up on my calorie intake.

Miscellaneous notes:

The mountain goat as my spirit animal
Lots of women around shrines, temples, and placed of importance dressed for photos

Second-to-last king, in Nguyen line, was likely a homosexual