My humble house

Hue, 2nd day with Chiam

zorahak

Had breakfast with Chiam in the lovely breakfast place in hotel .

Chiam at breakfast, haha . Breakfast  was good. haha
Breakfast . You could order veg options or Vietnamese breakfast

Then we went to see the Pagoda and gardens at the back of the Pagoda . The view of the river was lovely. The river at Hue is called the Perfume River because during the olden days,they use to gather herbs & flowers near the riverbanks.

Lovely view of the Perfume River

Hue was the capital of Vietnam from 1802 till 1945. Vietnam gained independence from France in 1945 . Vietnam last royal family lived in Hue before they fled to France in 1945 .

Gardens at the back of the Pagoda
These are the flowers of the canon ball tree

Then we went to the Imperial Palace where the last King & Queen lived.

Outer citadel of the Palace
Entrance . Palace surronded by walls .
We had to climb steep stairs to get this view . Palace had conservation work done due to the bombs of the Vietnam War and the Independence War with the French.
Inner courtyard
Corridors leading to the Palace
Like the redness of the color, its so Asian and I can resonate with that

The walk leads you to the main building of the Imperial Palace.

Looks like a mini though gaudy Versailles
Hand embiodered dress of the Queen . Rather nice .
Palace as you approach it from inner courtyard
Rather like the dragons on top of the roofs , very Asian
Dragons again at the top
The dragon floor tiles of the old theatre at the Imperial Palace. I like this very much 
Gate way leading to outside road. Magnificant gateway .
Pseudo- dragon but according to guide not dragon but a mythical feng-shui creature
Moat ard the 500+ hectares of the Imperial Palace

The royal family of Vietnam lived in exile in France and died there . I asked the guide, did they ever come back to visit Vietnam . According to him , if they did come back to visit ,its been not reported in the press or social media. The royal family do still have their many  relatives living in Vietnam .

Royal family fled the Imperial Palace and in the interim lived in this mansion called An Dihn Palace by the river An Chu .Build in 1902 , I think .
Knotted Garden behind the Palace

There was restoration work on An Dinh Palace but some small rooms were closed to visitors. The palace was restored but perhaps , needs English Heritage or the National Trust to be done properly haha but restoration at Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Penang was fine. Let me give feedback to the ASEAN Secretariat .

Was quite tired walking at the Imperial Palace because that covered a huge area . Some buildings were still unrestored and looks almost derelict . The government could restore and make boutique hotels out of those buildings to pay for expensive conservation effort at the Imperial Palace .

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