Hue – The Imperial City

Hue – The Imperial City

The Citadel entrance point

Hue (pronounced 'Howhey') was the national capital of Vietnam from 1802 to 1945 when the Nguyen dynasty ruled the country. It is famous for its citadel and the buildings and artefacts within the citadel. The citadel like many other citadels around the world has modern habitations within it along with the ancient buildings of the imperial era as well as a museum exhibiting the captured US weaponry including big things like warplanes and tanks. This is to the shame of the Americans that everywhere in Vietnam we find the evidence of how humble and determined Vietnamese brought them down to their knees. So far I have seen in the war memorials and other locations in Hanoi, Hochiminh city, Cu Chi tunnels, and Hue the saga of the US defeat in Vietnam.

 

In Hue I visited almost all the prominent places open to tourists. The tombs (now places of worship to the ardent royal followers) of Empror Tu Duc and Empror Khai Dinh are major attractions for the tourist and the photographer.

Lang Co Island on the way to Hue

The roads in Vietnam are very good. I have seen some very good roads in the Vietnam Highlands close to the border with China (However, as I wrote in a previous blog entry, the Chinese have build very high standard multilane highways right up to their borderlines). The highway (A1) from Danang to Hue is very well constructed and passes through some highly picturesque landscape. The longest road tunnel in south east Asia (6.28 Km) happens to be on this road. Journey on the highway was a pleasure indeed.

Some Photos:

The tomb (built 1864-67) of Tu Duc

The tomb (built 1920-31) of Khai Dinh

Ho Chi Minh’s House:

They say the Great Ho Chi minh lived in this humble hut with his mother. The old lady used to spin the wheel and make fabric on the loom.

The female Buddha:
In Vietnam Budha is represented in female form holding a bottle in hand. This statue is standing on the hill in front of the Khai Dinh's mausoleum. The female form of Buddha looks like the statue of Virgin Mary. The guide told me that the statue was called 'Quan Am' or 'Kuan Yin' - the goddess of compassion and fertlity.

While I was photographing around the citadel, a motorbike stopped by me and the young woman rider asked me;

“you India”.

Yes, I said.

“India beautiful”, she exclaimed.

“Vietnam beautiful too” I said in response.

She giggled as she posed before my camera.

Vietnamese women are beautiful indeed.

(Hue, 12/11/2017)

At the gates of the Great Ho Chi Minh's house in Hue.