Hue

Our next change of scenery was to move from Northern to Central Vietnam, starting at the city of Hue (hoo-weh). Hue was once the capital of Vietnam (until 1945), and as such has a lot of history.  We spent our morning visiting the Citadel in the city, which housed 14 kings from 1800 to 1945.  The first kings has some real power, but as the French colonists took over, royalty retained the pomp and circumstance, while not really affecting much.  The Citadel housed the Forbidden city, where only the King, his wife, his 600 or so concubines, and the eunuchs who cared for the concubines could go.  The palace was what one would expect for royalty: ornate, yet Asian influenced design. Very impressive.

After a visit to a pagoda, a riverboat ride on the Perfume River, and  delicious Vietnamese lunch, we visited the mausoleum of one of the kings.  The mosaic work inside was second to none - the decor using various colorful rocks stones, and even soup spoons for flower petals, and beer bottle bottoms for dragon eyes.  Clearly no expense was spared.

The Mausoleum 

Lunch art #1

Edible lunch art #2

That evening, we met for cocktails at The Imperial Hotel which has a beautiful rooftop bar in one of the highest building in Hue. Afterwards, six of us went to the Risotto restaurant for Italian food. And it was surprisingly good pizza and risotto, although Laurel’s salad was not up to western standards.