Meals: Breakfast at hotel, Lunch and Dinner at local restaurant
Accommodations: at hotel
Transfer: Private vehicle
Activities for today:
After breakfast at hotel, 08:00AM start the tour from your hotel to Imperial Citadel; visit the Citadel, including Flag Tower, Ngo Mon Gate, Nine Dynastic Urns, Nine Holy Cannons, Thai Hoa Palace, Forbidden Purple City. Then King Khai Dinh Tomb, King Tu Duc Tomb. Back to hotel. Overnight in Hue.
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+ Imperial Citadel: The former imperial seat of government and Hue's prime attraction, this is a great sprawling complex of temples, pavilions, moats, walls, gates, shops, museums and galleries, featuring art and costumes from various periods of Vietnamese history. Thanks to its size, it is also delightfully peaceful - a rare commodity in Vietnam. It is pretty huge; plan to spend at least 3 hours there.
+ The Flag Tower also called the King’s Knight, is the focal point of Hue city. It is commonly known as a flagpole, but viewed from the Imperial City, it is really a huge structure of three flat-top pyramids, one lying on top of another.
+ Ngo Mon Gate: The main southern entrance to the city, built in 1833 by Minh Mang. The central door, and the bridge connecting to it, were reserved exclusively for the emperor. Climb up to the second floor for a nice view of the exquisite courtyard. The Ngo Mon Gate is the principal entrance to the Imperial Enclosure. The Emperor would address his officials and the people from the top of this gate.
+ Nine Dynastic Urns were cast from 1835 to 1837 under the reign of Minh Mang emperor (1820-1841).
Each urn was decorated with 17 bas-reliefs and named in accordance with the posthumous titles of Nguyen emperors worshipped in The Mieu temple. In general, Nine Urns share the similarity in shape and weight; however, they are diversified in types and decorative patterns that signify the universe, animals, trees, artefacts or toponym. They symbolize the unification of the country as well as the orthodoxy and the lastingness of the dynasty. Date and weight of each urn were carved on its rim. The heaviest urn is about 2.600 kg and the lightest urn is about 1.930 kg in weight.
+ Nine Holy Cannons were cast in 1803 under the reign of Gia Long emperor (1802-1820). They share the same dimensions, 5.15 m in length and over 10 tons in weight. Each cannon was marked from number 1 to 9 and carved with its name after the Four Seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter) and Five Elements (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth) respectively. The former group are presently placed near The Nhon gate and the later group are set near Quang Duc gate. The usage instruction of the gunpowder, method of shooting and name of the cannon casters were carved on the cannon body. In 1816, all of them were entitled “The Holy Majestic Unbeatable Senior Lieutenant General” by Gia Long emperor. This title and the date were formed as bas-reliefs at the back belt of these cannons.
Nine Holy Cannons were originally set at two sides in front of Ngo Mon main gate. In 1917, they were removed to the present place.
+ Thai Hoa Palace: The emperor's coronation hall, where he would sit in state and receive foreign dignitaries.
+ Forbidden Purple City. Directly behind Thai Hoa Palace, but it was almost entirely destroyed during the 1968 Tet Offensive and only the rather nondescript Mandarin Palaces on both sides remain
+ King Khai Dinh Tomb: dating from 1925, this is the best preserved of the lot and, while comparatively compact, quite grand at first sight. While it follows the classic formula of forecourts leading up to the tomb of the Emperor, complete with statues in attendance, architecture buffs will spot some European influences. The tomb itself is completely over the top with incredibly detailed and opulent mosaics of cavorting dragons
+ King Tu Duc Tomb: Constructed from 1864 to 1867, the complex served as a second Imperial City where the Emperor went for "working vacations". Tu Duc's contemplative nature and poetic spirit is reflected in the landscape and arrangement of the 50 buildings that at one time stood here. A vast, sprawling complex set around a lake, with wooden pavilions and tombs and temples dedicated to wives and favored courtesans (Tu Duc had 104 to choose from).
