The hotel was amazing and the owner had a rather wacky sense of humour and there are little "art jokes" everywhere!.......poor Ken!
Hue rose to prominence as the capital of a feudal dynasty which dominated much of southern Vietnam from the 17th to the 19th century
Hue was the national capital until 1945, when Emperor Bao Dai abdicated and a communist government was established in Hanoi.
The Citadel, which occupies a large, walled area on the north side of the Perfume River was where the Nguyen Lords lived. Inside the citadel is a forbidden city where only the emperors, concubines, and those close enough to them were allowed to go, the punishment for trespassing was death.
Today, little of the forbidden city remains, but there is huge reconstruction to maintain it as a historic tourist attraction. Walking around it you do get a feeling of what it would have been like then.
Along with 2 other couples we went up the river in one of the many colourful "dragon boats" to see some of the tombs of the Emperors. A lovely way to see the country.
We stopped along the way to hop on the back of scooters and we were whisked down dirt tracks, through villages to the Tombs.
In the Vietnam War, Huế’s central position placed it very near the border between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. there was much fighting here and a bloody massacre. After the war ended many of the historic features of Huế were neglected because they were seen by the victorious regime and some other Vietnamese as "relics from the feudal regime"; the Vietnamese Communist Party doctrine officially described the Nguyễn Dynasty as "feudal" and "reactionary."
When visiting the tombs you do feel like they had been forgotten, but they are getting on to it now as we saw at the Forbidden City.
Loved Hue, a city that has a very genuine feel and the people are not all after the tourist dollar. A place to put on your list.
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