| | Apr 6, 2006 - Hue, Vietnam - The Imperial City | (click to enlarge)
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 | | show all 23 | | On our private chartered boat for the day - $12 US each including lunch | | Thien Mu Pagoda | | Bell at Thien Mu Pagoda | | |
| Hue - The Imperial City
Even though in some ways travelling in Vietnam can be challenging, there is nowhere easier for making onward travel arrangements. You never have to go to a bus or train station to get a ticket. Everybody wants your business and money and most hotels operate as agents and can book your onward travel arrangements within Vietnam. This quick and easy service was just what we needed upon arriving at our hotel in Hue after the overnight train from Hanoi. We knew we had only that day to see Hue and planned a very ambitious agenda of sightseeing to squeeze in before sunset. Hue, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is set on the banks of the perfume river and offers visitors views of life from the Royal Nguyen Dynasty. The perfume river is dotted with historic sites of grand tombs, mausoleums, pagodas and the Citadel containing Forbidden City.
We arrived in Hue around 8:30 AM and by 10AM had checked into our hotel, confirmed a bus ticket for the journey the following morning to Hoi An and most importantly were able to secure a boat charter for the day to take us up and down the Perfume River stopping at many of the major sites along the way. The train had arrived too late to catch a group tour so the private charter was our only option. Luckily, it is cheap to travel in Vietnam and for $12 US per person, we got transfers to the river, our own boat and lunch included. Before we knew it, we were chugging along the Perfume River taking in the sights.
In our short time in Hue, we took in a couple of the opulent Royal Tombs from emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty. They were impressive, massive estates with old buildings in various states of repair, forests, gardens, lakes and statues. As we strolled peacefully through the grounds in the sticky heat, you could not help but imagine how important these people were to have created such grandeur. While sailing along the river, we stopped at additional sites like Thien Mu Pagoda founded back in 1601 and the Citadel. Unfortunately, the Citadel was heavily bombed by the US back in the war although upon passing through the massive walls surrounding it, we could start to imagine what it was like back in its day. Contained within the Citadel is the Forbidden Purple City, which was used as the private home for the emperor with entry forbidden to anyone except for those special servants.
It was a whirlwind tour of Hue but well worth the stop on our route travelling south towards the charming town of Hoi An.
TRAVEL TIPS FOR HUE
1. Often passed over by many tourists, Hue is worth a stop for a minimum of one day and preferably more. The must-sees are the Imperial Tombs (a minimum of 2 would be recommended), Thien Mu Pagoda and the Citadel with the Forbidden City. You can squeeze all this into one day as we did, but it is a busy, full day. Better yet would be to do the tombs and Pagoda one day, leaving the Citadel and exploring Hue to a second day.
2. From Hue, it is also easy to do a day-trip out to the DMZ - Demilitarized Zone. This is the 5 kilometre gap that separated North and South Vietnam back in the war. We did not make it out to the DMZ and understand there is not much to see there but if you a history buff and interested in the war with a good guide this journey can be well worth doing.
3. If you are planning to get a Vietnamese conical hat on your trip, this is the city to do it. Hue apparently produces some of the best hats in all of Vietnam.
4. Lac Thien Restaurant is located on the South Bank of the river and run by Mr Lac a deaf mute with an incredible sense of humour. The food was delicious, reasonably priced and the atmosphere very unique with some tables on a balcony overlooking the busy streets below.
5. When visiting the Royal Tombs there are a lot to choose from and personally think trying to do too many of them could give you a bit of overload and ruin the experience. Select tombs that are different in style to get a taste of the different feels. I can recommend at least visiting Tu Doc and Minh Mang, which we did, and both had a very different style about them.
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