We
woke to another wet and drizzly day but at least we were not up at
the crack of dawn for a tour. As with yesterday, the morning rush
hour started at five o’clock and even though the hotel is set back
from the road it sounded like the scooters were just below our
window. Strangely all seemed to go quiet for a while before it
started up again around seven.
Most of the day we spent in the old Citadel of Hue, much to
the annoyance of a whole tribe of cyclo drivers who were all
competing for our business. We opted to walk to the Citadel as I
wanted to get a close up view of the flower market which lined the
road. The colour of the flowers and trees was marred by the gloomy
weather and I did feel for the people who had obviously been sat out
in the damp for hours and would continue to be so until late into
the night.
The Citadel site was pretty large site with a walk around the
perimeter being about ten kilometres long. A moat thirty metres wide
separates the citadel from the roads around it and ten gates provide
access into the walled city. Built in 1804 for Emperor Gia Long, a
large proportion of the site was occupied by the Royal Family. Today
most of it is in ruins as it was heavily bombed during the war and
agriculture now occupies much of the space.
Dominating the view of the Citadel is a large flag raised up
flag tower which has been extended and enlarged each time it fell
victim to a typhoon. Nine canons line the two main entrances, five
at one entrance, four at another, symbolising the four seasons and
the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth). We
slithered our way across the square behind the flag pole which had
become like a skating rink in the drizzle and entered through the
main Ngo Mon Gate buying our ticket for “foreign visitors”. The
small Trung Dao Bridge led us to the start of the main compound.
As with Quang Tri, most of the citadel has been destroyed by
bomb raids as Hue was a key city targeted in the Tet offensive. A
few buildings are still standing but most are just ruins. The first
building you visit is the Thai Hoa Palace, a large wooden building
whose roof is supported by eighty decorated wooden pillars.
Unfortunately no photography is allowed inside to capture the beauty
of the building which is ornately designed in red and gold motifs,
very reminiscent of Chinese buildings. A large courtyard in front of
the building was where the mandarins paid homage to the Emperor,
their position on the courtyard being determined by status and rank.
Inside the Citadel of Hue
Cyclos aren't just for tourists!
Behind this palace is another large courtyard, home to a
couple of large urns full of water. This courtyard is flanked on
either side by the Halls of the Mandarins, used by them to prepare
for court ceremonies. We went round the buildings on the right which
now house a small museum with exhibits on pottery and textiles. I
had not realised how much symbolism was included in the clothes worn
by the Royal family both in terms of the animals/plants depicted and
the number included in a costume. Dragons were on the Emperor’s
gown, unicorns for the prince and flowers and phoenixes for the
Queen and Princesses. Different costumes were worn for different
occasions resulting in an extensive wardrobe. In many villages where
the high quality cloths were made, taxes were often paid in cloth
rather than in cash.
Behind this courtyard were the ruins of the Forbidden Purple
City where the Emperor kept his harem. There is now little to see
here except the shape of the walls of this building, the Queen’s
apartments and the Emperor’s own house at the back of the compound.
Off to the right is a beautiful Chinese style building which was the
Emperor’s reading room. The roof is covered in fabulous tiles as is
the surrounding wall behind the building. It is now unsafe for
visitors to enter so we had to content ourselves with a look around
the outside. A little further on is the Royal Theatre building,
which I think is a reconstruction. Inside a red decorated stage
dominates the room and on the gallery above there is an exhibition
about the orchestra that plays here.
The western side of the compound is the one with the most
restored buildings. The Dien Tho Residence was the home of the Queen
Mothers of the Nguyen Dynasty. The QM’s apartments are quite
extensive and include a small pavilion overlooking a pond which was
a pleasure pavilion. Temples galore also adorn this section, the
most spectacular being the To Mieu Temple which is dedicated to the
Nguyen Empowers. Really this is nine separate temples, one for each
of the Emperors, all housed within one building. It is a spectacular
building which has recently been restored. Inside elderly locals had
come to pay their respects for Tet and fresh offerings of flowers
and fruit were on display.
In front of the temple was a large open courtyard, presumably
used for prayer. The southern side of this courtyard is home to Nine
Dynastic Urns. Each urn is decorated in a different style in terms
of ornamentation and the handles at the top and each is dedicated to
a different Emperor. They are enormous, reaching over two metres
high.
I would love to be able to turn back the clock and see the
Citadel before the war. Many of the walls that remain have splashes
of decoration and colour that give a tantalising glimpse of how
fabulous the citadel must have been in its heyday. Started in 1804,
new buildings have been added over the years and the damage from the
war revealed that concrete has been used to build many of the
enclosure walls, particularly on the western side. Nevertheless it
made for an interesting couple of hours, despite the persistent rain
and drizzle.
We opted for a cyclo to take us back to the hotel and spent
the usual five minutes or so bargaining on the price. Even though we
clearly agreed how much we were going to pay that still did not stop
them trying to bump up the price by the time they dropped us off.
You have to admire them for trying but they did not wait and hassle
too long as we stuck to our guns.
The afternoon was devoted to diary writing for me, a snooze
for Stef, and in the evening we went to the Orchid restaurant
attached to our hotel. It was a very Chinese sort of place with
bright lights and Spartan furniture. The only other people in there
was a group of six western tourists who looked like three couples
who had met up along the way. One Australian woman was very quiet at
the end of the table, picking at food in front of her with a curled
up mouth which clearly showed that she did not trust the food. More
fool her because they turned out a very tasty meal for us.
