Huế

After Ha Long Bay, we took a sleeping bus to our next destination, the old imperial city Huế. The emperors of Vietnam in the 19th century resided here. Huế was heavily destroyed in Vietnam War, but they have begun reconstructing some of the palaces and buildings of its rich past.

Huế is like an onion. Inside the modern metropole is a walled citadel. Inside this citadel is another enclosure with mighty walls, the old Imperial City. And inside this one is the Purple Forbidden City that was reserved for the royal family.

The Imperial City is now open for tourists and we were greeted there by musicians.

One of the many beautiful and richly decorated gates in Huế.

A close-up of the artistic wall decoration. They use clipped pieces of chinaware, glass, plaster and paint to create a relief work. How ingenious! It's 3D, it's weatherproof, and it's nice.

At the tomb of emperor Tự Đức (1829-1883), the last emperor before the French colonialists took power into their hands. He was anti-west, conservative, and withdrawn. He built not a tomb, not a mausoleum, but an entire park with lakes, pine forests and temples for his place of peace and inspiration. He wrote 4000 poems here.