ultimatevietnamcambodia2015: Saturday 24th October Hue

Another good day weather wise greeted us this morning making 10 straight days of exceptional weather for this time of the year. The main objective today was to visit the Citadel in Hue, ancestral home of the Nguyen Dynasty. The perimeter of the outside wall or rampart is some 10km in perimeter and is around 2 metres thick. There is an inner wall which surrounds the Forbidden City and this is about 2.5kms in length. Nguyen Anh seized control of Vietnam in 1802 and declared himself Emperor Gia Long. He started construction of the Citadel in 1804 and it was completed in 1845. Hue was also made capital of the Viet Kingdom but prior to that Hanoi had been capital of Indochina since 1010AD. The reign of the Emperors lasted until 1945 when the last emperor abdicated and the capital moved back to Hanoi.

On January 31st 1968, as part of the Tet Offensive, the Viet Cong launched an attack and captured the city of Hue. Initially, the allies didn't bomb the Citadel but as the war raged, General Westmoreland ordered the bombing and destroyed about 150 of the 160 historic buildings in the complex. Many of the walls and buildings in the Citadel still bear the scars of this battle.

After we left the Citadel, we headed to the Pagoda of the Heavenly Lady with its characteristic Buddhist Stupa. There were also some impressive bonsai plants in the grounds. From there it was onto the dragon boat for a cruise on the Perfume River back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon.

In 2012 we dined out in a local restaurant and noticed that some of the patrons dressed up for a royal dinner. This time around it was our turn and Tinh organized Jill and me to dress up as the Royal couple. I'd have to say that some of my subjects weren't as obedient or respectful as they should have been so they have been despatched to North Vietnam for retraining. All in all a memorable and enjoyable evening with great food and vegetable art decorations on each plate.

The Noon Gate entrance to the Citadel