The Imperial City of Hue

December 5^th, 2024

Huế is a city in central Vietnam that was actually the capital of the country during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945 and is currently home to almost 1.4 million Vietnamese.  We were only spending a couple of nights here and the main activity we wanted to do was to visit the Imperial City.

Checking in at the Pilgramage Village Boutique Hotel.

We got a chuckle from this placard in our room.  "Natural creatures in the resort" - Rooster, Gecko, Cicada, Frog, Rabbit, Cat, Bat.

The pool outside our room.

It was a warm pool too.

Heading to breakfast...it was a big place.

Couldn't resist...

The Imperial City is a huge walled enclosure that is in the heart of the city.  It was home to the imperial family but unfortunately the majority of the buildings were heavily damaged during the Indochina Wars and others were destroyed by US bombs during the Vietnam War.  Despite all of this, it was still designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 and is undergoing restoration.

The backside of the main fortress facing the river.

These were impressively large cannons.  There were 4 of them named after the seasons and 4 others named after elements of the Earth (earth, wind, fire, water).

Naomi captured these schoolgirls walking by.

About to enter the main area of the Imperial City.

Naomi and I didn’t bother joining any organized tours or renting an audio guide.  Instead we decided to simply wander around the grounds and through the small palace while taking many photographs (Naomi did the majority of that work).

Ascending to Heaven...

Bling, bling and more bling.

I sure wish I could have hit this drum.

Looking back towards the main entrance.

Such a cute family...we think it's grandma with her grandkids.

In one building, I noticed a throne that was cordoned off by a rope and a sign said that you were not to sit on the throne unless you had rented a costume.  I made the mistake of pointing this out to Naomi and she jumped on it like a fat kid on a Smartie!  She didn't care of the cost, if we got to put on some traditional royal garbs and be photographed on a throne, she was all in.  Okay...let's do this.  I have to admit, apart from my very uncomfortable crown, it was fun and worthwhile.

My coronation.

And my queen.

It's not easy being the king!

Back to being Indiana Jones.

Peek-a-boo!

Naomi was getting photography pointers from a nice man from Malaysia.

Looking towards the main palace.

It was quite an ornate building.

Some of the former residents.

After about an hour and a half, we found ourselves at the exit at the far end of the citadel and decided that we didn’t feel like walking all the way back to the main entrance in the hot sun so we got a Grab (Uber) to take us back to the hotel.

There was this little island outside of the main walls with many ducks and geese.  We couldn't get past these two guards...well actually, we just didn't want to disturb the sleeping goose.

Naomi spent the majority of the rest of the afternoon lounging around a few of the pools at our resort while I worked on this seemingly never-ending blogging task while sitting on a chaise lounge on our deck.

 

Back at our resort...happy Naomi with a coconut.

A late lunch at the Pilgramage.

Getting ready for our complimentary 20 minute foot massage at the resort.

The masseuses working us over. 

It was almost like a show at the end.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil statues outside the lounge at the resort.

Neither of us cared much for the actual city of Hue as it wasn’t terribly pretty so we were happy that tomorrow we will be heading on to Hoi An, with a few interesting stops on the way.