This morning I got lost in the UNESCO cultural heritage site that is the Citadel here in Hue.
Without going on for too long about the history of this place, perhaps the most important part is that it is being authentically reconstructed by UNESCO. The Citadel had been almost completely destroyed during the Vietnam war and the effort to restore it is starting to pay off. Construction will be complete in 2015.
I got lost in this place for about three hours, taking the time to soak it all in. There were little crowds and the buildings provided cover for the heat, so there was no reason not to. The entrance fee is a little steep, compared to other places (80,000 VND = a little under 4 euros) but still worth it. The chained, rideable elephants remain disgraceful.
You can ride an elephant for 15 minutes for about 6 euro's. I really don't have any kind words for anyone who would support this.
Anyway, the citadel dates (or used to date) back to the 19th century. There was a section called The Forbidden Purple City, which used to mean that unless you were the emperor, part of his family, a servant or a eunuch, you'd be killed on te spot for trespassing. These days are long behing us, and we're all glad for it.
It's forbidden to take photo's in the Throne Room, which used to be the place where the emperor welcomed his guests. The rest of the Citadel has temples, a house for the emperor's parents and grandparents, a reading room, library, a theater and a treasury, among other things.
This were the kinds of dinasties where 7 year olds could take the throne and where eunuchs switched around babies so the next emperor would be a bastard which was brought into this world by a local concubine. Furthermore people got poisened or killed in other sorts of creative ways. It's more or less like A Song Of Ice And Fire, with dragons, but without the giant wall of ice.
This video is quite old, but finally found a way to upload it :) There is more, but the files are huge and the upload rate is slow.
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| Dragon detail |
I got lost in this place for about three hours, taking the time to soak it all in. There were little crowds and the buildings provided cover for the heat, so there was no reason not to. The entrance fee is a little steep, compared to other places (80,000 VND = a little under 4 euros) but still worth it. The chained, rideable elephants remain disgraceful.
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| Citadel theater. |
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| The horror |
You can ride an elephant for 15 minutes for about 6 euro's. I really don't have any kind words for anyone who would support this.
Anyway, the citadel dates (or used to date) back to the 19th century. There was a section called The Forbidden Purple City, which used to mean that unless you were the emperor, part of his family, a servant or a eunuch, you'd be killed on te spot for trespassing. These days are long behing us, and we're all glad for it.
It's forbidden to take photo's in the Throne Room, which used to be the place where the emperor welcomed his guests. The rest of the Citadel has temples, a house for the emperor's parents and grandparents, a reading room, library, a theater and a treasury, among other things.
This were the kinds of dinasties where 7 year olds could take the throne and where eunuchs switched around babies so the next emperor would be a bastard which was brought into this world by a local concubine. Furthermore people got poisened or killed in other sorts of creative ways. It's more or less like A Song Of Ice And Fire, with dragons, but without the giant wall of ice.
This video is quite old, but finally found a way to upload it :) There is more, but the files are huge and the upload rate is slow.
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