As the former Imperial capital, Hue is surrounded by famous temples and mausoleums dedicated to the most well-known emperors from the
Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam.
While visiting Hue, we set out on an ambitious all-day tour to see 3 of the most famous tombs, and the Thien Mu Pagoda.
Our first stop was the tomb of
Minh Mang, the most famous mausoleum near Hue. It was nice to be with a tour guide that spoke English because he told us some interesting facts about the tomb setting. It's laid out to represent the King's body, with pillars for arms to represent the strength of the monarchy.
The color yellow is used to represent the King, so the building that lies above his grave has a yellow roof. The Mandarin guard that served the King is represented by the color red.
My favorite tomb was the second one we visited - the tomb of
Khai Dinh. Khai Dinh was not a popular guy during his rule of Vietnam from 1916-1925. He had expensive Western taste, and the Vietnamese people resented the fact that he went to lead a life of luxury in France at the same time his country was being exploited by the French colonists. He was a puppet king and accomplished very little during his reign. However, his tomb is an impressive blend of Eastern and Western architechture, perched on a hill outside Hue.
His actual grave lies somewhere beneath this opulent throne room:
There were many Vietnamese tourists at all the sights we visited.
Our next stop was a brief martial arts performance. On organized tours they bus you around and take you to places run by their friends and you're never really sure if you're seeing something authentic or not. Most of our tour group were Vietnamese tourists, and they seeemed to enjoy the martial arts show. It was particularly exciting when a girl doing a routine with a double-edged sword lost her grip and the sword went flying into the audience, hitting a girl in the foot. She was okay and after bandaging her foot, the martial arts show went on (another one of the many things we've experienced that could never happen at home).
In the foreground: the girl who dropped the sword. Wouldn't want to mess with her. At least the weapon was a dull one, just for show.
wow! great photos!!
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