Exploring Vietnam's Ancient Capital

Life as usual on the water

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If you come in the spring, the streets will be filled with peach blossoms, in the summer, flame tree petals. The winter smells of thyme and oil trees, and in April the lotus flower blossoms. The cafés are filled at night, and it's home to one of Vietnam's three art institutes.

Here in Thua Thien province, the mountains meet the sea, and a lush green jungle encroaches on saltwater lagoons, river estuaries, and a thousand-mile coastline. Hue is a great travel destination, not just for its flavor, history, and people, but because from here you can explore the DMZ (demilitarized zone), the local beaches, and the best kept secret of central Vietnam, the Bach Ma Hai Van National Parks. The entire town, ancient capital, and surrounding valley, including the tombs of the 13 kings, can be explored in a few days by boat and bicycle.

The Vietnamese know it as "the beautiful city," and not just because the most handsome people are said to come from here, or that it's considered the culinary center of central Vietnam. The ancient capital of Hue is a traveler's dream, with 200-year-old imperial architecture, dozens of pagodas and temples, and friendly, gentle people who are glad you've come.

In the 15th century, the Nguyen lords unified Vietnam for the first time since ancient history. Emperor Gia Long selected Hue as his capital because the pine hills on its three sides and the shallow Perfume River made the location easily defendable. The Nguyen Dynasty and Hue's golden age lasted for 13 kings, for over 150 years, until the Japanese invaded in WWII.

By the mid 1960s, Hue became a center of protest against the Thieu regime in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), and later a stronghold of the North Vietnamese Army. Throughout January and February 1968, during the Tet Offensive, American artillery and later the South Vietnamese Airforce flattened the city and its architectural wonders.

Vietnam remained closed to tourism for many years, but with travel restrictions loosening, the government is coming to realize the value in restoring its ancient buildings. On December 11, 1993, UNESCO recognized Hue as a World Culture Heritage Site, and funds are now helping to restore the city to its former glory. One UNESCO Director has called Hue "a masterpiece of urban poetry."