What city tour would be complete without a visit to the tour guides family craft shop. The first stop on thee tour, no point bringing you here after you've spent all your money. As usual you get as much time as you like here with about 30 minutes scheduled for every other stop on the tour, annoying but what did I expect for $4.
Hue is the old capital of the feudal lords which ruled much of southern Vietnam from the 17th to 19th century. The banks of the Huong River (also known as the perfume river) are lined with the tombs of these lords. When I say tomb I'm talking about a huge temple like complex.
Why would a lord need such a place? Most were in use during their reign as parks of leisure and in some cases to house the lords ladies. Some lords had as many as 500 concubines, in one case producing 168 children.
The tombs are very well preserved, each varying slightly from lord to lord. Perhaps the most interesting belongs to one lord who ruled during the time of the French occupation of Vietnam.
On route the tour guide described this lords tomb as being made of concrete. So I therefore had some vision of a 60's car park in mind. Sure it was made of concrete, but huge steep steps (above) and at the top a set of slaves (below) for want of a better description. These were the lords servants who would look after him in the afterlife. The lord who built this tomb was particularly unpopular with his people. He associated himself very closely with the French and by the sound of it overindulged in a lavish champagne lifestyle. Apparently though now concubine, this lord had other persuasions.
The last stop of the day was at the city's citadel . Intended as a copy of the Forbidden city in China, the walls enclose a 2km sq area. Many of the citadels buildings were destroyed by American bombing but some restoration efforts are slowly bringing it back to its former glory.
Now would you catch a lift with this guy (below). Probably not but if we wanted to get back to our hotel via the river it was a better option than swimming. The river boat came complete with tacky souvenir shop (sorry spent all our money at the guides Auntie's shop)
The trip along the river does give you the chance to take in the views of the nearby river bank, the occasional half sinking fishing boat and the odd riverside property. In Vietnam river side property doesn't seem to be that popular, probably because of the mosquito's as the smell isn't that bad at all.
Highlights: Some amazing Feudal Lord extravagance inspired architecture
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