Hue
Day 10: Sunday 24th March 2019 (continued)
Hue was the national capital city from 1902 to 1945. On arrival in Hue we visited the citadel, which contains the Imperial City - a walled enclosure within the citadel with the palaces of the emperors within. Work on building the citadel commenced in 1805; once built it remained the seat of power until the French imposed colonial rule in the 1880s. It remained the place for ceremonial traditions until 1945, when the monarchy was ousted and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam established. Hue and its citadel were extensively damaged during the Indochinese wars - first in 1947 in the "French war" and then in 1968 during what the Vietnamese refer to as the "American war" (and which in the west we usually refer to as the Vietnam war). The citadel has been extensively restored and is now a very popular tourist attraction. I was particularly impressed by the ornate roof-top dragons.
Click on an image below to enlarge and scroll through.
Hue was the national capital city from 1902 to 1945. On arrival in Hue we visited the citadel, which contains the Imperial City - a walled enclosure within the citadel with the palaces of the emperors within. Work on building the citadel commenced in 1805; once built it remained the seat of power until the French imposed colonial rule in the 1880s. It remained the place for ceremonial traditions until 1945, when the monarchy was ousted and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam established. Hue and its citadel were extensively damaged during the Indochinese wars - first in 1947 in the "French war" and then in 1968 during what the Vietnamese refer to as the "American war" (and which in the west we usually refer to as the Vietnam war). The citadel has been extensively restored and is now a very popular tourist attraction. I was particularly impressed by the ornate roof-top dragons.
Click on an image below to enlarge and scroll through.
After this we checked into our hotel which had an open air swimming pool on the 12th floor and an open air bar overlooking the Perfume River on the 13th floor. I enjoyed a refreshing swim and we both enjoyed a relaxing beer as the sun set (even if we couldn't see it through the clouds).