Hue city tour and visit to Royal tombs

Our day started with a visit to the Thien Mu Pagoda. Built in 1844, it featured an impressive 7 story Pagoda overlooking the Perfume River. Behind it, there is a large gateway leading to the temple which features a number of Buddha’s including a large bronze laughing Buddha. Behind the temple was a large courtyard featuring some examples of Bonsai trees of different species. Also there was the Austin car used by the monk Thich Quan Duc who famously burned himself to death in 1963 to protest the policies of the South Vietnamese president.



 After a short boat trip to the town centre we walked to the Citadel and spent a couple of hours touring the main buildings. Originally built in the early 1800’s, it is a massive complex that originally housed the king and his staff, including bodyguards, wives, concubines etc. Largely reduced to rubble by the US military, only a few buildings remained of the former Imperial City.
 Our next stop was the city market, the Dong Ba market. Or as our guide described it “the Don’t Buy” market- due to the questionable sources of many products and the dishonesty of many of the merchants. With one hand firmly over my wallet and the other holding my camera bag close to my body we took a brief look at the offerings before escaping for a well earned lunch break.
   The afternoon was spent outside the city visiting the tomb complexes of  Minh Mang,(emperor between 1820 &1840) and Khai Dinh, the second last emperor.( 1916-1925)







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