What a wonderful bed. Sooo good to have a bed with crisp white sheets. Breakfast not quite as good - 'leftovers' from last night and bread (not as good as the Hanoi bread), eggs and sliced meat. Everything was cold, and it wasn't until we had finished that we saw the microwave. Oh well!
Mr Cuong, the minibus driver from yesterday, arrived to collect us and take us to a few sites before heading south to Hoi An. First stop, the Citadel - it was still raining so lots of people wanted to sell us rain ponchos. It seemed a good idea, so we forked out our $2. Everyone wears ponchos. The ones for motorcycles are huge and have a window at the front for the headlight and plenty of room to also cover a backpack.
The Huế Citadel (Vietnamese: Kinh thành Huế) is a massive 19th‑century fortress built by Emperor Gia Long starting in 1804, when Huế was the capital of Viet Nam. It covers over 500 hectares, surrounded by thick stone walls and a wide moat. Inside the outer citadel lies the Imperial City (Hoàng thành) — administrative and ceremonial heart of the Nguyễn Dynasty and the Forbidden Purple City — the emperor’s private residence. Unfortunately, not a great deal has survived the wars, fires, typhoons, floods and termites over the years. The Tet Offensive in particular (January–February 1968) turned the imperial capital into one of the Vietnam War’s fiercest urban battlegrounds. What has been restored is pretty spectacular, and the restoration continues.
On to the Thiên Mụ Pagoda, a historic Buddhist temple founded in 1601 by Nguyễn Hoàng, the first Nguyễn Lord. Its name means “Celestial Lady Pagoda”, tied to a local legend of a mysterious woman who prophesied that a lord would build a temple to bring prosperity. The pagoda’s most recognisable feature is the seven‑story Phước Duyên Tower, built in 1844 under Emperor Thiệu Trị. It has become the unofficial symbol of Huế. The Pagoda was made famous in the Western world in 1963 when one of its monks burned himself to death in Saigon in protest at the excesses of President Diem's regime. In reality, the Pagoda has been (and still is) a centre of Buddhist opposition to repression (be it colonialism, communism or whatever.
Final stop in Huế is the Tự Đức Mausoleum (Lăng Tự Đức). Tự Đức (reigned 1847–1883) was the longest‑ruling Nguyễn emperor, known for his refined intellect, love of poetry, and traditional Confucian worldview. He faced enormous pressures: internal rebellions, French encroachment, and court intrigue. His reign is often remembered as the dynasty’s turning point toward decline. Despite having 104 wives and a whole village of concubines, he fathered no children. (it is said due to having smallpox).
On the road again to
