Indeed our two day stay in Hue starts with a visit to a small museum /converted french villa on the banks of the river which houses the collection of colorful paintings from the mid nineteenth century depicting the luxurious fashion of the Imperial court.
We are on our way to see the Citadel and Imperial palace grounds but get lured yet again by Hue’s art offering. On the river front is a large exhibit of gorgeous photography.
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| Crossing a bridge, which acts as a gallery for photographs. (Part of the first International Festival of Hue.) That’s Adam ahead on the right in the rust colored T shirt. |
The Imperial city is designed around the Chinese architectural concept of multiple large courtyards surrounded by large fortress like walls. Inside these fortress walls there is a feeling of beauty and serenity.
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| Driving up to the walls of the Citadel. (Adam ahead…) |
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| Front of the “Audience Hall” building where the Emperor would meet with his mandarins. The roof is made of individual circular ceramic tiles. |
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| A photograph of the last Nguyen Emperor in the Imperial court. (Part of a permanent exhibition of photographs.) |
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| Red lacquer with gold ~ was a sign of opulence in Imperial Hue. A restored courtyard. |
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| Buddhist bells used during ceremonies. |
The exhibits inside the Citadel and the Imperial court, are particularly well curated and provide substantive and interesting accounts of every aspect of Imperial court life.
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| Photographs from the early 1900s of Mandarins and other members of the Imperial Court. Note the length of the fingernails of the character on the bottom left – indicative of his status of not having to “lift a finger.” |
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| The Emperor had 50 dishes cooked by 50 chefs at every meal. He then selected a few of those to eat. |
The moat that is just outside the gates of the old Imperial city offers yet another buffer before one returns to modern day Hue.
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| A bride and groom having photos taken on the lawns on the banks of the moat. |
The traffic is mostly motorbikes, masses of them all moving with a fluidity that defies logic. We graduate from Hoi An provincial motorcycle riding to full impact navigation in the sea of mopeds. We realize after our first day in the city that we are now driving a motor scooter in the full on traffic, in a big city in Viet Nam which has as much traffic as in Hanoi!
Hue of course has a market ~ which we seek out to observe regional based differences and have some bowls of soup for breakfast.
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| The egg lady, with many different varieties of eggs, in a good spot on the side of the river. |
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| Lots of good looking fresh veggies. |
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| A line of vendors follows the curve of the street and the river. |
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| Sea food being weighed. |
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| Delicious soup for breakfast. (That’s Adam behind the uplifted bowl.) |
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| Women having a good laugh together ~ communicating through gestures and body language. Having lunch at a one dish restaurant on the side of the road. |
This looks like a dream…The city of Hue is just stunning.. I would love to visit it… The art is beautiful.
So glad you enjoyed it! Shall we meet in Viet Nam one day?
You make Vietnam seem like Shangri-la. Thanks! Is the place a motor scottery as it seems?
Motor scooters are definitely the prime method of transportation. There were times when the streets of Hue had only scooters packing the road, no cars in sight.
wonderful!
Spectacular. Y’all are so brave, scooting around there. It’s funny the are exhibit hung from the bridge– I think, hey, keep your eyes on the road! The art is only for the passengers! Ok, I understand, WE have billboards, you have art… But the guy with the long fingernails, I don’t envy him. I want to be the egg lady.