Day 17: Hue and Imperial City

Wednesday, 11/6/2024

Slept in a bit today, woke up at 7:00am.

Got showered and dressed, then went down to the 7th floor for breakfast in the dining area.

Very crowded and busy, bit of a change from the last several places we have stayed where our group was many times the only guests.

Spent some time talking with Mark during breakfast, then went up to the room to grab cameras, then to the lobby at 9:00am for our morning excursion.

View out the window in daylight.

Once the group was all present, we walked 1.5km (about 1 mile) to the entrance to the Imperial City. This is the walled city and former royal palace in use between 1802 and 1945.

You cross a bridge over the outer moat and enter one of the many gates in the wall that lead to the city which once housed up to 100,000 people.  It also has the walled palace within that has its own moat.

The outer moat from the bridge.

Bridge and the city gate we entered in the front wall.

We walked along the outer defense wall of the city and even went up onto the top near the front gate where they would have once had soldiers and canons stationed for defense.  They now have some fake canons setup here and there.

On top of the outer defense wall of the city.

Tan bought our admission tickets to the Royal Palace within the city that sits behind another large wall.  He then turned us over to the local guide that would show us around inside.

We entered through the main gate of the palace wall after crossing the palace moat bridge.

The main gate of the palace from across the main plaza in front of it.

Once inside, we stood and listened to some of the history of the main royal residence which was still under renovation, so would not be accessible for us to see.

We then went up on the palace wall here to check out the building on top of the main palace gate.

Up to the gate building which had several viewing areas and small museum.
View of the inner palace moat from the city gate. (the palace wall is to the right)

Our next destination was to walk down along the palace wall path to the entrance to one of the temple complexes.  Each section within the royal enclosure had its own set of walls and gates.

Pathway along the palace walls.

The temple enclosure had a main entrance building leading to a courtyard with the primary temple located there.

We went through the entrance building and walked around the courtyard having various things pointed out to us.  Then, for those that wanted, you could remove shoes and visit inside of the temple.

I chose to stay outside as there were so many open wall sections you could see much of the interior anyway, and I did not need to get close to the objects inside.  Removing my shoes is a bit of a task.

Approaching the temple entrance building inside the wall.

View of the temple courtyard and the main temple from the entrance building.

Corner of the courtyard over by a secondary wall and gate inside.

We then exited through a different gate back to the main corridor along the main palace wall.  We walked up past another gate to the outside, formerly the women's gate, and up to one of the primary residence enclosures, this one for the kings mother and other relatives.

Gate from palace to city, originally for women only.

Within the residential enclosure were several homes, courtyards, and garden areas, some in better shape than others.  We visited the private pond and relaxation garden of the kings mother and then went over to another building.

Pond and central hut used by the kings mother (now a cafe).

It was here that we found a large model of the grounds as they would have been during the height of the Imperial families usage.

Model of the Royal Palace and the route we followed. (red line)

We exited through another gate where we stopped for a group photo, and then into a long covered walkway which took us across to the central area of the palace where more of the main palace buildings once stood, but are now missing, having been destroyed over the years various conflicts between the 1940s and 1970s.

Group photo at one of the gates.

Most of the buildings on other side of wall are now gone.

We mostly stayed with the guide, but would all take quick moments to go down a different path or through a separate gate to get a nice photo or check it out, but staying within sight of the main group.

We then went into an area of several smaller buildings and small gardens with creeks, fountains, sculptures, and lots of plant life.

One of the many small gardens we walked through.
View of buildings around the garden area.

We went into a small building used as a gift shop, but also had several artists there working on making various products.

Behind here was as small lake that we walked next too to reach the next building which was the former library.

Small lake behind one of the many building groups.

Path toward the library.

Here we again had to go through a gift shop to reach another covered walkway that would take us to the back of the complex.

At this time, we parted with our local guide, after tipping her, and walked over to a brand-new building they had built within the large section of the grounds that had been destroyed during the past.

This building houses a museum holding artifacts from the royal families that lived here over the years.

New building housing the museum.

The building had some nice view points and intricate details outside as well.  It also had some nice views from the 2nd floor windows over the palace grounds.

View over the grounds toward the front gate (flag pole) where most buildings were destroyed.

Detail of the figures along the steps of new building.

Once we were done, we exited the gate behind the museum which was on the opposite side from where we entered.  We decided to grab a taxi back to hotel instead of walking the 2.5km (1.5 miles).

Back at the hotel we all went up to drop off cameras or other gear and then met back down in the lobby to go to our lunch location.  We took 2 taxis and drove about 3km (2 miles) away to a local food joint.  

This place was a complete dive, but very busy, so must be good.  Yet another local cuisine meal we were all tired of eating.  I did not eat much today, food did not look that good, and just no appetite for it.

After eating, we again took taxis back to the hotel and now had the day open to do whatever we wanted.  Most of us took off to walk around the area to check out things.

I went over to get a few more drinks and snacks, then back to the room to drop that stuff off and had planned to sit and write in the journal the mornings activities.

However, they were still cleaning my room when I arrived, so I dropped off the drinks, except 1 Coke, and went down to the lobby to sit and write instead.

I will go back up in about 30 minutes as they should be done by then I think.  Will also see if the laundry I dropped off is done yet as well, though thinking it might be later in the evening before it is ready.

Tonight I think I will find my own dinner, perhaps see what kind of food that club I saw last night might have, and go there.

After getting back to the room I decided to take an hour nap; was just tired after all the walking that morning.  Then I spent some time online to update things and did some research on things I wanted to do when the tour was over and I go out on my own.

I then proceeded downstairs to go walk the neighborhood to see what options I had for food and check out some places I had seen online.  The dance club did not have much of a menu, so not an option for food, but maybe stop afterwards?

While walking, I found a small shop selling art work, mostly ink drawings on various mediums with mostly animals, and a good selection of cats.  I had a hard time making up my mind, but eventually found a really nice piece he had recently completed for $80.  The artist had shown me several photos on his phone of the work in progress.

Ink on rice paper original artwork.

I felt I could risk buying this delicate piece because he rolls them up nicely, and puts them into a custom cut piece of PVC pipe that will be more than adequate to protect it during transport and flying home.

I then returned to the hotel to drop things off.  I had also asked about my laundry and they said they would have it delivered, so I played online until they arrived with my stuff.

While checking things online, I saw a message on the WhatsApp group that many were sitting around the pool on the 7th floor, so I went up and joined them.  A very nice cool breeze was blowing up there as well.

7th floor pool deck open to the outside.

We sat there and talked for about an hour and then we all discussed dinner plans.  Long had planned for us to go to restaurant that specialized in local dishes from the Hue area, but most of us (myself included) were just ready for something else.

It sounded like most of us were going to try and find alternative meals tonight, I had decided to try the Mexican place right next to the hotel.

However, Tan and Long talked for a bit and found an option for steaks, burgers and pizza nearby.  So we all decided to eat as a group there instead.  Turns out this was one of the burger places I had thought about going to earlier.

Dinner was very nice.  Most of us shared pizzas, Atti had a steak, and a burger was ordered that several of us cut a small part of it to try.

After dinner, I walked with Mark over to the same artist I had visited earlier as he had wanted to check it out after I told him about it while sitting at the pool.

I browsed the stuff again and eventually decided to buy another piece, but this time I just could not decide which one I wanted.  So, as is my habit, I just bought them both.

I did not have enough local currency on me, be he was willing to take US dollars and return my change in local currency.  This actually saved me a trip to the money exchange place.  We both checked current exchange rate and agreed on it.  It was the same rate given to me in Hanoi, so I was happy.

Ink on rice paper original artwork.

Acrylic paint on canvas original artwork.

Mark also bought a nice piece for one of his boys, a really cool dragon.

I then found a different mini mart, that I wish I had found earlier, as it had a better selection and less costly.  I picked up more drinks to take back to the hotel for tonight.

We passed by the club on the way back and it was just dead tonight and even the music (which they pipe outside) was not as good tonight.

Thinking I will probably just pass and try finding another place sometime later in the trip.  And sine we are leaving at 8:00am, will need to be up at 6:00am, so probably not good night to go party.

Tonight, I will just relax in the room and read until I go to sleep.

Goodnight


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