Sunday, January 24, 2016

Hue, former Imperial Capital of Vietnam 30Dec2015

Da Nang is located in half way between
the capital Hanoi in north
and Ho Chi Minh City in south.

We have been Da Nang before and 
have seen famous
marble mountain and Cham temple
and visited ancient charming town of Hoi An.

We decided to take a ship's tour to Hue this time.

Hue was the political, cultural and religious centre 
under the Nguyen dynasty until 1945

 Da Nang Port

 A local fishing boat

 Da Nang is clean and pleasant in many ways
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Our tour to Hue takes 9 hours.
It includes 3 hours drive each way from Da Nang.

We drove through Hai Van tunnel 
which is the longest (6.3km)
tunnel in South East Asia.



It was rather interesting drive through
fishing and farming villages in rural Vietnam.

It was overcast and somewhat chilly
which was completely different to Ho Chi Minh City.

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On arrival in Hue, we first visited the Royal Citadel.
It was built by Emperor Gia Long in 1804.

 Forbidden City, on the other side of the Citadel.

 Heavily decorated roof with dragons and 
other mythical animals like turtle, unicorn and phoenix.







 Inner City

Royal Theatre


 One of the gates to Forbidden City




Forbidden City from outside

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 Thien Mu Pagoda was founded in 1601
and it is the most famous landmark for locals

Thien Mu Pagoda is on Perfume River
where many dragon boats are cruising on


 Temple inside the Thien Mu Pagoda


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Vietnamese lunch is served in a hotel restaurant.

Food was good but typically made for Western tourists

A couple was selected from our group
for King and Queen to 
experience the formality of a Royal meal
while 7 member band is playing 
Vietnamese traditional music.

We have not got a time to dress up... ^^
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 Nguyen Dynasty Emperor Tu Duc Tomb


 I thought this girl was a paid model 
for tourists' photo shoot
until I got close and realised that 
she was on her mobile phone.

Maybe, she was doing both poising and chatting.









The tomb.

 It was a fabulous tour of Hue uniquely in style of Vietnamese.


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