Hué: Dynastic Charm on the Perfume River

The overnight train from Hanoi (that was as comfortable as hoped) deposited us in Hué first thing the next day. Feeling mulishly stubborn, we decided to walk in the scorching sun to our hostel, despite it being a fifteen minute walk with our backpacks. We had to take a break part way (that would be thanks to me) but we made it eventually. The hotel was lovely, extremely clean, great service, brilliant location… and we’d discover the next day it even offered a good breakfast. I love Vietnam! As soon as we’d settled into the room (i.e. shoved our bags in) we headed out to the Citadel to explore on foot, as Hué is pretty teeny really. 

We stopped at the supermarket to grab a drink, and indulged in an ill-advised chicken burger at a low-budget KFC rival called Lotteria – we really should have eaten local, but hunger and the heat made us lazy. It taught us a lesson though – we could have had a lovely corn on the cob from a street vendor, or a selective sandwich from one of the many paté and egg sandwich providers, but instead we suffered a stomach churning chicken burger. Nice! Sorry to the locals there who we’d have much preferred to give our money to if we’d been thinking about it! The Citadel lies on the northern bank of the Perfume River (or Song Huong as it’s otherwise known) and it is a bit decrepit in places thanks to escalating American bombing during the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War. It does however have a romantic charm, and the buildings that are still standing are in pretty good shape, and have been well looked after/restored. 

The Citadel is expansive, taking in several roads around its edges and walling in a huge residential area, with the Imperial Enclosure acting as an inner Citadel, where all the imperial action took place. There is a moat surrounding this inner Citadel, which was built by Emperor Gia Long from 1804, so the buildings aren’t all that old really.

 It is reminiscent of the Forbidden City in Beijing in some ways, as there are living quarters and ceremonial buildings designed for imperial use, as well as temples on site. One area is even called the Forbidden Purple City (why purple? Not sure…)!

The standout sight here though was the To Mieu Temple Complex, where there were nine dynastic urns dedicated to different leaders, as well as shrines to each of these emperors. This part of the Citadel was in great shape, and has been restored carefully as it felt very authentic. 

We spent the rest of the day wandering through the Citadel grounds, which you could easily get lost in (and I think for a few brief moments we did, though it is easy enough to re-orientate yourself). Landmarks can be difficult to pinpoint on the map here as some areas are little more than scrubby fields and pathways, so instinct was important to help us find all the key sights! 

Having failed so dismally at lunch to eat well or in any way considerately, we sought out a local restaurant that evening to enjoy some quality Vietnamese Pho (noodle soup). We found a great place, no idea what it was called, but it was tucked around the back of the main riverside promenade south of the river (not far from where we were staying) and served incredible and simple noodle soup, with lots of lime to squeeze in and chillies to add if you want to up the ante. It was a great antidote to a lacklustre lunch, that’s for sure! 


We only had one more day in Hué (a bit of a whistle-stop tour!) so we hired a motorbike the next day to take us out to some of the tombs and pagodas around Hué. Hiring a motorbike is always a bit hair-raising (especially when we realised our left indicator light didn’t work, making left turns risky business when you’re driving on the right hand side of the road!) but it is a great way to see the countryside and explore major sights outside of town without resorting to a tedious and expensive tour group. First stop was Thien Mu Pagoda, next to the river on the north side, and off to the west of the Citadel. 

Seeing this pagoda was a jaw dropping way to start the day – the 21 metre high, seven storey, octagonal central pagoda is famous in Vietnam and rightly so as it is deeply impressive as you walk up the steps from the riverbank. There are several other interesting features at this pagoda, including a large tortoise statue symbolising longevity, and the Austin car used in 1963 to take the monk Thich Quang Duc to his self-immolation in Saigon, in protest at the Diem administration’s discrimination against Buddhists. Diem and co were discriminating in favour of Catholics, and Vietnam was rife with Buddhist protests during this time due to this religious inequality. Duc’s self-immolation marked a major turning point, and most importantly it alerted the Western world to the religious crisis in Vietnam, encouraging the US and other countries to put pressure on Diem rather than either turn a blind eye (or fail to set the eye in place at all).

We leapt back onto the bike and went back across the river to set our sights on the Tomb of Minh Mang (emperor between 1820-40), about 16km south of the city. The road was relatively well surfaced thankfully, and we even had to go on a major highway at one point – just for a moment though! After an accidental diversion to a hilltop with a large white statue of Quan Am, Goddess of Mercy, we found the Tomb of Minh Mang on a back road.

Goddess of Mercy

The grounds of this tomb are incredible – first you pass through three temples that are surrounded by peaceful gardens, then you cross the Lake of Impeccable Clarity (looking a bit murky now, but in its day, who knows?) where you reach Minh Mang’s tomb (which is not open to visitors – he’s resting in peace).

There were very few visitors and it was a very tranquil way to spend an hour or two. On the way back from Minh Mag’s tomb, we dropped into one last pagoda near the train station, the Bao Quoc Pagoda. This was quite central and lacking in atmosphere, but one of the great things about this pagoda was the pineapple and apple fritters we found for sale just over the road! They were quite unhealthily I should think, with all the batter, but very tasty after a hot day on the sand-blasted streets. We still had an hour or so left on the bike, so we took it into the Citadel outer walls and drove through some very busy streets in rush hour – scary stuff! Exhilarating though, in a ‘are we mad’ kind of way (especially with only one functioning indicator!). One motorbike driver even tried chatting to us as we negotiated the traffic – we had to smile haplessly and point at the road, I hope he understood! 

Dinner involved a return for more Pho at the same restaurant as the day before (we were again the only customers, but it seemed popular as a takeaway!). Just as we were tucking into the yummy soup, who should we see but our three German friends from Cat Ba Island! They had just arrived and we were about to leave the next day, but we decided to look out for them as we headed south as we were all vaguely going to the same places! (We do see them again too – more on that later!). The next morning we had a reasonably timed train to Da Nang before catching a connecting bus to Hoi An, so we watched a film before bed and had time to enjoy breakfast before we left for the station. Pretty Hué – two days is enough to get a feel for it, but it certainly merits some extra time if you have it.



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