After Hoi An, Hue was our next destination. Located roughly halfway between the north and south of the country, the city has long had an important role.
Bus journey between Hoi An and Hue
As we were just leaving Hoi An, we were already stopping (about 1/2 hour later...) at the "marble mountain" so called because it is the corner where the marble sculptures are made, itself I suppose extracted not far from there. There is a pagoda that we did not have time to visit, a kind of cave and all the souvenir shops around.
At this stop, a Frenchman approached me to chat a little, a Toulousain who had not been to Asia for a while from what I understood.
Then we leave again, we are in a night bus while the journey is made during the day so we are semi-lying in these boxes a little narrow it is not tip top, but we have to make do, in any case the landscape is relatively superb, too bad the weather is overcast. We cross plains of rice fields, villages, along the sea sometimes very close.
A wreck found there on the seaside…
The road for a while along the seaside, very close.
Landing in Hue
We arrive in Hue, same story as usual, they wait for us at the exit, we take a hotel that we can afford and hop, they take us. Well, the hotel in question was not great (the Ngoc Binh) for the same prices one of the neighboring hotels apparently does the job better, anyway the transfer to the hotels is free, they show you the room, then you are ok or not; in our case, we were a bit lazy at the time so we settled for the first one they showed us.
It's early afternoon, having spotted a good bakery when arriving at Singh Tourist, we have our lunch there (the French bakery) then we leave, on foot with our map indicating that it's not that far, towards the famous citadel, former imperial city of the Nguyen dynasty, the last to have reigned (until 1955).
I didn't have a small bag, no...
A nice little French bakery next to where the bus dropped us off.
On the balcony of our hotel.
The Citadel of Hue
The construction of the royal city began in 1805 under the reign of Gia Long and was completed in 1832. The complex was built according to the practices of Feng Shui, this oriental "science" which consists of studying the location and organization of space in harmony with the environment of the place both on the physical and spiritual level.
The main gate, called the "Midday Gate", or in Viet "Ngo Mon". It was built just after the citadel was completed, then under the reign of Emperor Minh Mang, in 1833. The middle gate remains closed, because it was reserved for the emperor alone while the entrances on the sides were used for soldiers and horses.
We pass through one of the gates that cross the ramparts and face a large square, quite surprisingly deserted, well, not many people. Once in the citadel, we read among the signs that only 40% of the city remains today because of the war with the French in 1946 and then that with the Americans (But according to the signs, it was more during the war of 46… And so it is our “fault”…)
So we can see what remains, namely large parts that have been destroyed, where only a sign, stairs, remains indicate that there was something there.
Despite the significant destruction, there is plenty to spend a good afternoon there. Which is what we did, exploring every corner of this citadel, a real city within a city.
Quite a few places were being renovated, others were already. Since there weren't a lot of people, we often found ourselves more or less alone at the bend in an alley.
It is forbidden to take pictures inside some buildings, that won't stop me from shooting the rest of the citadel! Back in front of the main gate, I stayed a while to observe the surroundings from the upper floor. Downstairs, the many rickshaws wait for their customers, then, after a wave of people passing by, the square suddenly empties, leaving only 3 stragglers.
Opposite, bicycles parade on the road, including students recognizable by their traditional white outfits.
After that, it was time to head back to our hotel and find a good place to eat. On the way, along the sidewalk, there was a sort of improvised mini flea market with items from American soldiers, it's quite chilling when you think about it, because you can imagine how they were able to get them.
I watch with amusement the chaotic traffic of the many 2-wheelers traveling the road along the river. River on which circulate boats, some of which are floating restaurants, others seem to serve as homes.
A little anecdote, French is still a little bit present in Vietnam, as proof a Vietnamese (I think) was jogging on the square in front of the main gate and jostled me slightly and without even knowing my nationality said a very French “excuse me”…
