The next stop on our journey up the coast of Vietnam was Hue. Hue is a small peaceful city that in the early nineteenth century was the capital of Vietnam. By some it is considered highbrow its scholarly influence coming from the five universities within the city.

It was defiantly the one of the nicer places we visited in Vietnam, less busy than other places meaning we were hassled less. We even managed to sit down for a meal without anyone approaching our table trying to sell us something.

Our first day in Hue we visited the Citadel and the Imperial city, walking across the city in the sweltering heat to find it.

We entered the Imperial city through the Ngo Mon Gate which was built by Emperor Ming Mang in 1833. The impressive gate is described in the guidebook as a: “Considered masterpiece of Nguyen architecture.” It has five separate entrances – the emperor used the large central entrance paved with stone. Two entrances on either side were for the civil and military mandarins, whilst another pair of giant openings on either side of the main gate allowed access for the royal elephants.

On top of the gate is an elegant pavilion called the Five Phoenix Watch house, its nine rooves are said to resemble five birds in flight when viewed from above. Discovering this I wondered how many people back in 1933 would have been able to view this from above?

From the gate we meandered slowly over the moat filled with water lilies to Thai Hoa palace. Before arriving at the entrance to the palace we passed a pair of Kylin – according to the guidebook these are mythical dew drinking animals that are harbingers of peace. These creatures resembles a cross between a dragon and a lion but were much smaller than the guidebook made out.

Thai Hoa palace is said to be the most spectacular of Hue’s palaces. Inside its red and gold lacquered columns were impressive despite being worn away from years of people running their hands over them. The amount of wear was surprising considering they were replaced in the early 90s after termites got the better of the old columns.

Thai Hoa place was one of the most important of Hue’s palaces as it was the thrown room and place where the major ceremonies took place. The emperor would sit atop his thrown on a raised dais wearing a gold tunic and crown decorated with nine dragons. From his thrown he faced South across the Esplanade of Great Salutation – his view looked down to the Ngo Mon gate.

Other than the thrown and the pretty lacquer work there wasn’t much more to see in the palace and we made our way to the Forbidden Purple City. This was the third and final enclosure of the imperial city and would have been reserved for palaces, the residence of the state doctor, the nine ranks of the royal concubines, kitchens and pleasure pavilions. Many of the buildings inside the Forbidden Purple City were destroyed in a fire in 1947. We passed by the restored right house and left house, which actually stand to your opposite side as you enter (they were named based on the emperors perspective), and now house gift shops. From there we passed into what once would have been the heart of the city, but very little remained. We were met with the sight of a grassy expanse dotted with the remains of ruined buildings.

It was a sweltering day so we decided not to investigate the ruins and instead left the Imperial City. Outside we got on a cyclo for a tour around the outside of the Citadel and were dropped off at the market. My driver could speak a little English and making conversation he asked where I was from. I told him England and was met with the usual response of: “Oh, London, Manchester, football, Manchester United!”  The drivers then usually ask if I like football, do I support Manchester United, to which we have become accustomed to just saying yes because it’s easier. But this driver asked a different more unexpected question: “How long does it take to drive from England to America?!” Clearly he needs to work on his geography!

We walked briefly around the market which was similar to many of the markets we’ve visited in Asia then wondered back to the hotel had dinner and retired for the day.

* Posted by j150vsc on 09/09/2007.