Hue Things to Do

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I visited on the city & tombs tour.

A stop at the village, and here it was interesting to see the incense and hats being made.

After they have rolled the incense on the end of the stick, then they are put on the roadside to dry. They are in extremely bright colours.

This shop also sells hand painted fans and some other souvenirs.

Its located about 5kms from Hue

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.

On entering the Ancient Citadel, you will find a lotus pond just next to the entrance. The pond has a bridge over it that was once reserved for the emperor's private use.

Have a look on the edges of the pond, here you will see......
Pink coloured edible SNAILS

Across the bridge, you can see the Thai Hoa Palace, an important venue for official receptions and other important court ceremonies. Columns supporting the roof are lacquered and inlaid with gold.

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 complex of Hue has been officially recognized by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

A MUST VISIT IN HUE

I visited on my City Tour, so admission was included in the Tour price.

The 17.4 metre Flag Tower or "King's Knight" can be seen from afar when in Hue.

The Huge Flag, flys on a pole, on top of three terraces, one lying on top of each other.
On the highest terrace are canons and sentry boxes.
It was built in 1807, and was later improved by Emperor Minh Mang.

The Flag Tower was destroyed and rebuilt quite a number of times, and in 1948, a 21m concrete staff was constructed.
In feudal times, a yellow flag fluttered everyday on top of the Flag Tower.

Visit when you go to the Citadel.

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I visited this Pagoda on a City Tour that I did.

There is a legend that people around this area used to see a vision of an old lady appearing on the hill where the Pagoda now sits. When she saw people, she always said that one day a great Leader would build a Pagoda at this site to bring peace to the country.

Lord Nguyen Hoang passed this way, and on hearing the story constructed the Pagoda in 1601.
It sits on a high bank overlooking the Perfume River.

Located here, is the Phuoc Duyen tower, a great stele (carved in 1715) Quang Duc's car (he burned himself in Saigon as a defying act against the Diem regime) and the Great Bell (cast in 1710 and said to be heard from 10kms away) it is also where Monks of the Temple live and practice Buddhism.

Worth a visit.

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I visited this Tomb on a city tour.

Minh Mang (1791 - 1841) succeeded his father as Emperor at the age of 29.

He ruled from 1820 -1841. Ming Mang, was an important poet and writer, he tolerated French commerce, he was suspicious of Western missionaries and prohibited the practice of Christianity in Vietnam.
There was some persecution of Christians because of his desire to protect the Vietnamese culture. He was also a builder of many other structures in the Imperial city in Hue.

He is remembered for the construction of the Mieu Temple in 1821.
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.

Well worth visiting.

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I visited this Tomb on a City Tour.

Khai Dinh was born in 1885, and reigned as Emperor from 1916 to 1925.

The Tomb was built over a period of 11 years, from 1920 to 1931. It is located high on a hill in the Chau mountain range. t

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.

A beautiful Tomb, and from the top there are nice views. This Tomb also has statues in one of the courtyards.

BE FIT, you need to climb about 150 steps to the top.
Well worth visiting.