We found out Hue is a very nice and quiet place, specially on the promenade by Perfume River. It’s a city with less than 350.000 inhabitants but full of traces of Vietnam’s History. Having been the capital of the country until 1945, it has a majestic Imperial Citadel.
We’ve been taken aback by the many spectacular emperors’ tombs. Even though this may sound creepy, truth is they don’t look like that at all. It’s magnificent complexes located in the outskirts of the city.
Furthermore, Hue set trends regarding cuisine in the South of Vietnam. We loved its unique cuisine food style.
1st and 2nd Day in Hue
Our arrival was at night, about 9 pm. We just took a shower, looked for some street food for dinner and went back to sleep.
Recalculating route...
We had spent the whole day visiting the attractions around Da Nang, the Marble Mountains and Ba Na Hills… We were just exhausted.
On the next day, we met our host at breakfast, as we had done our check in with a girl that helped him in the evenings. He gave us valuable recommendations on where to eat and what places to visit.
Thanks to him, that showed himself curious about our plans and asked questions about them, we realized that we didn’t have three whole days ahead before leaving Vietnam, but only two!!! Or maybe one and a half… We only had one full day left in Hue (the one that was just starting) and then, the day after, we’d have to take the plane in the evening.
We were hopelessly confused and thought we were going to take the plane one day later.
Fortunately, our host helped us planning our (now shorter) stay in the city, so that we didn’t miss any attraction.
Our plans were like this: on that day we were going to tour around Hue a bit and later we’d visit the Imperial City.
Then, the day after, a private car would take us to the tombs of the emperors, which are located on the outskirts.
Finally, they would drop us off at Da Nang airport and we’d say goodbye to Vietnam.
A new foodie experience
Before visiting the Imperial Citadel of Hue, we went for a coffee to a shop that was recommended by our host. Then, we had lunch on another place, also recommended by him.
What could we complain about? He had basically saved us from ruin! Furthermore he gave us the best recommendations we could get to make the most of our time in Hue.
As a matter of fact, the coffee was delicious and…. very peculiar! It tasted salty!!! It was prepared with a little salt, fermented milk and traditional coffee. A delicacy only found in Hue.
Then, we had lunch at a recommended restaurant. The house specialty was traditional Bánh Beo. These new delicacies were small rice flour cakes with sea fruits and a sauce. Very apetizing!
And then, as a dessert, we ordered a passion fruit flan, super tasty!
Looking for traces of history
Well, from there we headed to the Imperial Citadel, which was the emperor’s residence, when Hue was the capital of the Vietnamise empire.
Let us share a little of what we learned about Vietnam History, in order to understand the importance of this place.
For almost a thousand years, Vietnam was under Chinese domination. Then, in the 19th century, the Nguyen dynasty prevailed in Vietnam, and they eventually continued to rule under a French protectorate.
Then during WWII, Japan occupied Vietnam. But when the war ended, France wanted to take back Vietnam territory. It was getting hard, so they asked the US for help.
The US agreed to help in order to prevent the emmerging communism from spreading from Vietnam to the rest of Asia … and then, well, we all know the end of the story.
The Imperial City
The citadel was built in the early 19th century when the Nguyen dynasty settled in Hue the capital of the Empire.
The citadel would be the seat of government. But we’d also find, within the citadel, the Imperial City and the Forbidden Purple City, the imperial residence, to where only members of the family and their servants had access.
Inside the citadel, the architecture reminded us of classic kung fu movies, and their typical buildings.
Within the citadel wall, we found the former imperial family houses (today museums), lakes, parks and spaces for recreation. Nowadays this place preserves the cultural legacy and it’s the top attraction in Hue.
Much of this complex was destroyed as a result of the wars that took place in Vietnam during the last century. And now some of the buildings are being restored. But even so, it’s a very interesting place to visit.
Among the places of recreation, the one that most caught our attention was the arena where fights between tigers and elephants were organized. It seemed quite strange, but yet interesting. We felt curious about it.
The most ridiculous thing about these figths was that, since the elephant is a sacred animal (representing the power of royalty), these “fights” were “fixed.”
The tigers had their claws removed, they suffered many days without food and without rest before being released to fight against the elephant.
On the day of the fight, the elephant killed the tiger quite easily and the emperor and those present celebrated, despite the obvious and ridiculous performance.
A much quieter destination
Finally, after our tour of the Imperial City, it was time for dinner and a walk around the city.
Hue is a beautiful city and much quieter than the destinations we visited before. It has a promenade along Perfume River and also picturesque bridges that span the river.
So, for dinner we tried a crab soup, in another place also recommended by our host, that was just around the corner from our accommodation. The price of this delicacy was USD 1.
After dinner and taking advantage of the fact that it was weekend, we went for a walk through the center of Hue. There are four streets that were used as pedestrian streets at night on weekends.
Compared to the other cities, Hue is much quieter, there are not so many people, and we can say that even the center is rather quiet, despite being full of bars and restaurants.
After a beer, we went to sleep and get ready for our last day in Vietnam.
3rd Day in Hue
On our last morning in Hue, we had planned on visiting the Dong Ba market, walk around a bit and then, after lunch, start our Vietnam Emperor tombs’ tour on the way to the airport.
Getting our foodie souvenirs and last memories
However, before that, we wanted to buy some coffee grains (from the brand recommended by our host) and also the cups to make the coffee. We had loved Vietnamese coffee so much that we couldn’t leave without these wonderful souvenirs.
Going to the supermarket was super interesting, we found everything we were looking for and even some herb seeds. We’ve chosen a few of them looking at the printed pictures and trying to recognize if they were what we had been eating during our trip to Vietnam.
For lunch, we followed another final recommendation. On the way back to our accommodation, we had a soup with rice and a kind of meatballs made with clams.
The place was very small, there were only 2 tables for four people in total and the kitchen was placed just next to the tables. So you could see absolutely the entire cooking process.
There was only one dish option, so everything was quite simple. We went through the door, looked inside, they pointed out a table so that we sat down, they brought us the food and they explained to us with gestures how to eat it.
The three women who were there were very nice and helpful.
Then, we had to pay and we soon got shocked. The price of meal was ridiculous, about $ 0.30.
Another interesting thing happened. While we were eating there, a car stopped at the door, we do not remember the brand but it was a high-end car, then, a very elegant couple got out (she was wearing a dress and he had put on a suit) and they just sat down to eat next to us.
We came to the conclusion that good food was the same for everyone (no matter the social class). Super interesting.
The Tombs' Tour
Anyway, as we said before, after lunch our tour to the Emperor Tombs began.
These tombs are huge. They are actually luxurious properties that the emperors themselves ordered building in their old age and there they spent their last years of life.
In other words, it was their last home, after their retirement as emperors. Eventually, they would also become their own mausoleums.
While there are many tombs to visit, we only visited three, the most popular ones.
1st Stop: Emperor Tu Duc Mausoleum
The first tomb we visited was located in a huge area, many hectares, actually, with gardens and different constructions.
At the entrance we found some concrete figures, the “guardians” of the place. There are five Mandarin soldiers, a horse and an elephant on each side of the entrances.
Among the constructions we found the residence of the emperor and the empress, the servants’ residences, leisure buildings and the tombs themselves.
The mausoleums that we found within the premises were three: one belonged to the emperor, another one to the empress and another one to one of their children.
Each one had their own mausoleum, which was a building with steps. After going through a gate, we found a rectangular-shaped concrete block in the open-air, and the body was buried underneath.
The entrance decoration in the mausoleums are dragons sculptures, they are typical figures of the Vietnamese culture.
2nd Stop: Khai Dinh Mausoleum
The second tomb we visited was located on a much smaller site, but no less impressive.
It was a unique building, built on hill. To access the main enclosure we had to climb a fairly high stairway.
After climbing the first flight of stairs, we went through a gate where we found more dragon figures.
At the end of the second flight of stairs we discovered a temple and we saw again the Mandarin guardians on both sides, on the landing of the stairs.
We kept going up the stairs and, after going through another landing, we finally reached the last stair flight that lead us to the main building where the tomb itself was located.
This building is impressive, not so big, but full of ornamentation. In particular, a giant bronze statue that is placed above the grave.
This place is surrounded by mountains and parks that used to be part of the emperor’s residence.
The views from the height are very magnificent, you can even see a giant figure of Lady Buddha in the distance.
3rd Stop: Minh Mang Mausoleum
The third tomb we visited looked more like the first one. It was located on a huge 15-hectare site, surrounded by gardens and lakes. It was the most impressive one, combining distinctive architecture on a majestic landscape.
Of course, at the entrance we found once again the statues of the mandarins, horses and elephants that protect the place.
The lakes surround the property, protecting it, and the buildings are aligned. You just have to go forward, keep walking straight, until you reach the entrance of the imperial tomb.
In this complex there were the residences, tombs and some recreational buildings (a building to read, another one to go fishing, another one just for nature contemplation) all spread out over the 15 hectares and on the edge of the lake that surrounds the property.
The tomb itself isn’t open for tourism. We arrived to the gate on its particular circular wall, but it was closed.
In any case, we guess it must be very similar to what we have seem in the other tombs.
Biding farewell to Vietnam
Thus, we returned to the entrance, ready to say goodbye to Vietnam.
On the way to the airport we could enjoy our last amazing views in Vietnam on a rainy day.
We couldn’t take the Hai Van Pass mountain pass for a second time (it was closed due to the poor weather), but it was super nice to see the clouds on the mountains. In any case, we had already had the chance to enjoy Hai Van Pass impressive views.
We reached the end of our trip. After visiting Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh, Nha Trang, Hoi An and Hue; exploring admirable sites like Po Nagar Cham Towers, Po Klong Garai Cham Towers, My Son Sanctuary; discovering breath taking attractions like, the Marble Mountains, Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge, and eating delicious food… now, we just had to go to the airport to leave this incredible country.
See you soon Vietnam, we will be back!
