Our host had floated the idea of us renting scooters last night and at the incredibly low price of $5 a day!! Sarah wouldn’t admit it but I could tell there were some nerves but then within five minutes of us riding the scooter she had a grin from ear to ear and was adamant that we had to buy one!!!!
Now while we didn’t drive ourselves whilst in India having been subjected to the driving there for three months meant that nothing could phase us on the road in Vietnam. Sure there were scooters everywhere and a lot of people driving the wrong way down the roads and people turning blindly (and slowly) into the road in front of you but we felt that on the whole the driving was quite considerate. If not pretty lawless.
Our first stop was only about 3km down the road and we dropped the scooters off with a man who looked fairly official and must have made his money by minding scooters while they parked. Everyone else seemed to be using his service so we paid our 20 cents and headed off towards the Citadel.
The Citadel and Imperial Enclosure are surrounded by 2.5km of thick high walls and the gate we entered through was impressive in itself and once through the gate we first came across two lakes and the first of many palaces and halls. Some of the palaces had been beautifully restoration, some left as rubble and others were currently being restored.
The area was huge and we had a great time wandering around, getting lost a few times, and exploring the very different buildings. Once again there were plenty of dragons particularly in the detail adorning the roofs. The influence obviously comes from China yet there is a distinct Vietnamese flavour to the designs. There wasn’t much information on offer but it was all very beautiful to look at.
We had started early to try and avoid the heat but by the time we had finished walking around the humidity had ramped up and the heat had well and truly set in. It was glorious to get back on the scooters and feel the wind blowing in our faces as we carried on with our exploration of the area.
Next stop was the Thien Mu Pagoda which is 21m high and built in 1844. It stands above the Perfume river and was surrounded by some lovely gardens and by this stage we were already having a fantastic time riding the scooters in between amazing sights!!
From the Pagoda in the middle of town we were to head out further to see some of the tombs of Emperors of Vietnam who had been buried in the countryside surrounding Hue. The traffic soon thinned out and we were enjoying zooming around the country roads winding our way towards the first of the tombs.
The first tomb we arrived at was the Tomb of Khai Dinh and we were greeted by huge, dirty, blackened, Gothic pillars. As we ventured further up the hill there were more pillars, small temples and even some life sized figurines. All with beautiful carvings on them. At the top of the hill was the mausoleum itself which again had some amazing carvings on the exterior. Inside we couldn’t believe what we saw as the whole interior was covered in small tiles creating some fantastic patterns.
Our jaws were just about on the floor. This place was amazing and there were hardly any tourists around at all!! Maybe it was the heat which frightened them off but we were already thinking what a fantastic day we were having and we still had another 3 tombs to visit!!
The rest of the afternoon was spent cooling down whilst riding the scooters and the warming up whilst wandering around some beautiful tombs. We were both thoroughly excited having enjoyed some of the best sights we had seen so far in Vietnam! It was about 5pm by the time we got home and were able to enjoy some well needed cold showers but there was no time to relax as we wanted to head back to the Citadel to watch a changing of the guard.
The skies were black by the time we walked back to the Citadel, we had decided not to risk night time driving on the scooters as not everyone on the roads switches their headlights on but were now worried that we were about to get severely rained on. Also a little bit of fatigue had set in and we thought we might have tried to do one thing too many in one day.
The changing of the guard was fairly uneventful and a pretty unspectacular show. They were all dressed up but after the guard had changed we were encouraged to follow the actors into the Imperial Enclosure. The buildings were all lit up and the actors began a show of their martial art skills.
We spent the next two hours following a route around the illuminated palaces and temples stopping here and there to see some variety of show or musical performance. The highlight was a group of 7 ladies all dressed up and performing some traditional songs.
We honestly couldn’t believe the day we had had and were chatting excitedly all the way back to the hotel. Scootering around Hue is definitely one of the highlights we will always remember!! T
The main gate at the entrance to the Citadel in Hue.
The whole citadel was filled with courtyards, many of which had these huge urns in them.
The Halls of Mandarins which now made beautiful walkways.
The ornate designs found here throughout Vietnam are wonderful, again the dragons being represented.
A shot to try and give an idea as to how big the space inside the citadel walls is. There were many parks to explore in between the buildings and by the looks of it lots more to be restored too.
We just couldn’t get enough of the beautiful palaces in the Citadel.
The use of tiles in the facades was just beautiful.
Even the relatively plain buildings had a majestic air to them.
We are still in the citadel and still uncovering stunning buildings.
Outside the citadel now at Thien Mu Pagoda which overlooks the brown Perfume River.
Even the Pagoda was surrounded by a garden.
Our first look at the Tomb of Khai Dinh.
These life sized figures adorned both sides of the entranceway.
Halfway up the steps with the main mausoleum behind.
A few photos of the facade of the mausoleum which as far as we were concerned was one of the best things we have seen.
To step inside the mausoleum and see this level of decoration left is both speechless, just fantastic.
Even the ceilings were painted and the whole effect was mesmerising.
The entrance halls to the mausoleum were adorned with simpler but still impressive tiled designs.
Down the road was the tomb of Minh Mang which was set in some beautiful gardens.
The walk from the entranceway to the mausoleum led us through lakes, gardens and fantastically designed buildings.
This is one of the memorials at the tomb of Tu Duc which was actually the largest of all the mausoleums but not necessarily the most impressive in our opinion.
We found this smaller mausoleum almost hidden by the forest growing around it, it felt very much like another Indiana Jones moment.
One of the easy riders at the end of a spectacular day.
The return to the citadel for the evening meant we got to see these beautiful buildings all lit up.
Our septet of women playing the beautiful Vietnamese music for us. They were all playing traditional instruments and Sarah was most fascinated by the lady playing what looked like teacups. She was actually quite impressive holding two in each hand and knocking them together.
A play to finish off the evening, the costumes were great and the location perfect but we had no idea what was going on.