Hue. Former Vietnam Capital

Dragon boat on the Perfume River

Thursday the 21st we spend the day in Hue. The morning starts a boat ride on the Perfume River to visit the delightful Thien Mu Pagoda, considered to be the finest pagoda in Hue. It was built in 1601 after an old woman appeared to Nguyen Hoang, the governor of Hue, and said that the site had supernatural significance. We also see the car driven by monks from this Pagoda to Saigon in 1963, where one of the monks set himself on fire to protest religious restrictions by Diem.

Steps leading to Thien Mu Pagoda 

Thien Mu Pagoda 

Then we tour the Citadel, a fortress surrounded by a moat that has a six-mile perimeter. At the Forbidden Purple City we can see the remains of the former home of the emperors. The Imperial City is built on the same principles as the Forbidden City in Beijing. It is enclosed by thick outer walls (Kinh Thanh) of 23-33 feet, along with moats, canals and towers. There are ten gates, which pierce the walls of the citadel many are in poor condition. The city has not only been damaged by war, but also by natural disasters such as floods, which inundated the city in the mid-nineteenth century to a depth of several feet. The complex has undergone partial restoration with the aid of UNESCO. There are some photos that give an idea of what life was like during the emperors.

The Citadel

Walkway

We take a break in the afternoon and face the challeng of bad WIFI in the hotel.  We have become spoiled in that WIFI has been good and our GSM cell phones with a Vietnamese SIM card give us covereage every where. Tomorrow we are off to Ho Ching City.