Travels in Vietnam

N   80  Hue City

Hue(pronounced Hway ) is a city in Central Vietnam, that was the seat of Nguyen dynasty emperors and the national capital from 1802 to 1945. As it is an old city it has many structures of historical importance, such as the 19^th century citadel surrounded by a moat and thick stone walls. Other remarkable places are the tomb of emperors such as Tu Duc, Khai Din, Min Mang and also famous pagodas.

After we checked into our hotel and were ready to go out it was nearly noon. We asked our driver to take us to Emperor Tu Duc’s tomb first. It was not very far from the city and before long we reached there.

It had been raining since we arrived in Hue. But not so heavy. Just a light one. We walked  into the compound which is 12 hectares wide and surrounded by thick walls. What we first saw was a lake with low water level and the water in it looks stagnant.But with the old pavilion in the background and trees (many magnolias ) the scenery was magnificent. After that  we walked onto higher level.

I had already learned that there are nearly 50 constructions of palaces, pavilions, theatres, courtyards, royal gardens, lakes and such as  should fit an emperor.They took 3 years to build (1864- 67)  And now I was seeing  them with my eyes . The stone stele in the stele pavilion is the biggest in Vietnam. The narrative inscribed on it was composed by the Emperor (reign 1848-1883 ) himself.

Tu Duc’s tomb is not only one of the beautiful works of Nguyen Dynasty but it is also a romantic scenery of mounts and lakes.

Then we were taken to visit Emperor Khai Din’s tomb. The car stopped directly in front of the steps leading to the tomb complex. The archway at the top of the staircase had captivated me that I had a wish to take a group photo on the stairs. But this did not become real because someone was not interested and didn’t even come up with us.

I tried to climb up the stairs resting 2 times and finally got to the top. And it was well worth to have done so because I could see a lovely viewpoint over the mountain from the top.

There is a vast courtyard in front of the stele pavilion and in the courtyard are figures of elephant, horses, and court officials which emperors could not dispense with. There are these in every tombs.

Climbing another set of stairs we reached the Khai Thanh palace with intricately carved decorations on the external walls. There are 3 separate halls, the palace, the Royal Crypt and the Altar Hall.The walls are decorated with inlaid colorful glass and porcelain pieces. There is the decorated sarcophagus, built in the form of a throne with the figure of the  seated emperor over it as well as items retained from his reign.

Emperor Khai Din was the 12^th and the last emperor of Nguyen dynasty who reigned from 1916 to 1925. His tomb is a blend of western and eastern architecture built from 1920 to 1931.

After having a late lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant we went to visit the complex of Hue monuments. (UNESCO World Heritage site ) 

The first structure we saw was the Hue Citadel. It is not old as Hanoi Citadel because it was built only in 1804 by Emperor Gia Long.

Our car drove past the citadel and into the car park. We had to leave our car here, and hire an electric car to get into the complex. It did not take us to see the Citadel but took us direct into the palace complex. The complex is huge. I learned that it is 2 klms by 2klms. So to explore it on foot is impossible, unless one takes 2 or 3 days. And there are many places to visit. Gates, courtyards, lakes, palaces, pavilions,  and such pertaining to Emperors. Unfortunately we didn’t have a guide to explain to us.We understood what one building is only from what our driver told us.

By the time the last emperor stepped down in mid 20^th century this  Purple Forbidden City had acquired many dozens of pavilions and hundreds of buildings. But the US –Vietnam war and other natural disasters had caused substantial damages to the buildings. And so many of what we were seeing were reproductions of them. But they look authentic and really impressive especially the Emperor’s mother’s palace , the museum and the royal theatre.  They are well worth the price of the pricey tickets that we had to acquire to go in .

(Some facts and photos from the internet )