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deedles Hue - A travel report by Deedles
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Hue,  Vietnam - flag Vietnam -  Th>a Thiên-Hu«
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deedles's travel reports

Old Imperial City of Hue

  8 votes
Page: 1 2
Wow! was what I thought when I first set eyes on the Citadel in Hue. This City has amazing buildings, River Markets, and some good tours to nearby area's!


Making Incense
Making Incense
Hue is a recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site.



My flight from Hanoi to Hue was early morning. On arrival, it wasn't long before I was on the airporter bus to my Hotel. After settling in, I went walking, then hired a cyclo. I had a nice driver who could speak English, was informative and took me to all the sight's in Hue. This was a good way for me to get my bearings!



Hue, located on the edge of the Perfume river, was once the national capital right up until 1945, when Bao Dai (the collaborator king) escaped into exile and Ho Chi Minh declared independance from France in Hanoi. As a result the city of Hue and its surroundings are covered with impressive monuments, temples and palaces.

The Imperial city and markets are to the North and the newer buildings of the city of Hue to the South.

Favourite spots:
Dragon Boats Hue
Dragon Boats Hue
Hue is a recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site.

My flight from Hanoi to Hue was early morning. On arrival, it wasn't long before I was on the airporter bus to my Hotel. After settling in, I went walking, then hired a cyclo. I had a nice driver who could speak English, was informative and took me to all the sight's in Hue. This was a good way for me to get my bearings!

Hue, located on the edge of the Perfume river, was once the national capital right up until 1945, when Bao Dai (the collaborator king) escaped into exile and Ho Chi Minh declared independance from France in Hanoi. As a result the city of Hue and its surroundings are covered with impressive monuments, temples and palaces.
The Imperial city and markets are to the North and the newer buildings of the city of Hue to the South.

What's really great:
A visit to Vinh Moc Tunnels
These tunnels are located at Vinh Moc, on the South China Sea, and are very interesting.

During the Vietnam war, these tunnels were located on the border of North and South Vietnam.
The Tunnels were built in stages, from 1966 to 1972, and they were used to shelter the towns people from the very heavy bombing in the area.

In the Tunnels, were family rooms, kitchens, hall, maternity ward, infact, a whole village underground. They had to store their own supplies as well as for the Army.
Kitchens had chimneys, ? how was the smoke not seen by the enemy.
The Tunnel has 3 floors and a round staircase, and seven exits towards the sea, and six exits to the hills, these act as ventilators.
These Tunnels were very successful with NO villagers losing their lives, infact, 17 children were born in the tunnels.
These people were very brave, and had to endure this way of life for a long time.

Also here, is a Museum, this also was interesting .




Sights:
Hue Citadel
Hue Citadel
The Citadel was built between 1805 to 1832, on the Northern bank of the Perfume River.
It has an area of 500ha and a system of three circles of ramparts, namely from outside to inside: Kinh Thanh Hue (Hue Capital Citadel), Hoang Thanh (Royal Citadel) and Tu Cam Thanh (Forbidden Citadel).

There are ten gates to access the Citadel, each with a two story watch tower. The gates are named according to their direction of exit.
The Citadel was built to accommodate 24 bastions with over 400 canons.

The royal fortress called Thai Hoa Palace was constructed in 1805. The palace consists of two separate halls, the front hall and the main hall, where the throne of the king is. Thai Hoa Palace is the most important place in the royal palace.

This is where the emperor held official receptions and ceremonies or state. It is also where he received homage from the mandarins.

Today, you get good views of the rest of the Imperial Enclosure and surrounding moat.


Accommodations:
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn
I stayed at the Holiday Hotel, Hue



The Hotel was up a lane at the edge of the city, just one street back from Le Loi street, which is the closest one to the river.

Even though its in a quiet area on the edge of town, it was still not too far away for a walk.

I had a river view room, a corner one with windows on both walls with brief views of the River. My room, situated on the 5th floor, was very clean, with nice sparkling white curtains, fridge, tv, the usual. It was made up every day of my stay. For once, Mini Bar drinks were quite reasonable!



Breakfast was included, and this was nice, laundry was a reasonable price and good service, and there were free lollies and biscuits for guest's.

Staff were very friendly and helpful.



My only complaint was tours were more expensive than the travel agent.



A big plus for cheaper Hotels in Vietnam....IT HAD A LIFT!







Nightlife:
Singers on the Boat
Singers on the Boat


The traditional music is on a Dragon boat that is one of many that head out into the centre of the river, drop anchor, then the performers start singing.



1st of all, they pick you up from your hotel, hope you are prepared, as it was by MOTORBIKE! Arriving at the Dragon Boat early, I sat with a few others and waited, eventually, (late) the performers arrived, an off we went. We could see other boats going by with their performers and could hear the singing, but not ours, because we were late! They dropped anchor and the singing began, quite harsh to my ears! Whilst somebody was singing, the other singer's were talking amongst themselves, like they were bored at being here.

We then put a paper ??? lantern in water with a candle in it and returned back to shore, I definitely didn't see thousands as was advertised. We were dropped off, and left to find our own way back to our Hotels.

Not something I would recommend!





Other recommendations:
Tomb of Khai Dinh
Tomb of Khai Dinh
TOMB'S



My favorite would have to be the Tomb of Khai Dinh [b1885, and reigned as Emperor from 1916 to 1925.]







The Tomb was built over a period of 11 years, from 1920 to 1931, and is located high on a hill giving some nice views of the Chau mountain range. This Tomb is different to the others, it looks a bit like a Palace. Inside, there is a lot of beautiful porcelain decoration on the walls, columns and ceiling as well as the statue of Khai Dinh, his grave and his alter. BE FIT, you need to climb about 150 steps to the top.











Tomb of Minh Mang (1791 - 1841), succeeded his father as Emperor at the age of 29. A total of 3000 soldiers and laborers worked on his Tomb in 1840. After he died, his son enlisted 9000 soldiers and workers to finish the job. The King had 142 children. A wall runs around the 40 buildings and it is set in a nice garden area. Another nice tomb.

















Published on Monday April 11th, 2011


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Sun, Jul 22 2012 - 03:13 AM rating by louis

Very enjoyable read. Brings me back a lot of memories from Hue

Sat, Apr 30 2011 - 05:10 PM rating by mistybleu

I would love to visit Hue, it sounds like an incredible place.

Tue, Apr 12 2011 - 12:14 PM rating by eirekay

Love the Dragon Boats! How much fun!

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