Hue - Former Capital of Vietnam

Hue - capital of Vietnam from 1802 to 1945. Often not chosen as a stop by travelers but it’s absolutely worth it. Very relaxed atmosphere and nice setting along the perfume river.
Home of the Nguyen dynasty from 1802 a 1945. Then, Emperor Bao Dai abdicated in 1945 and the Democratic Republik of Vietnam was established with its capital in the North, in Hanoi.
Hue was also location of one of the heaviest and bloodiest battles during the Vietnam war starting on the 31.01.1968. It is commonly known as the Tet offensive by the North Vietnamese army which came as a surprise to the Americans. The North controlled the citadel for 3.5 weeks and overall up to 10.000 people were killed during this time, by of the North but as well by the bombing of the US/South-Vietnamese.
We visited the Citadel of Hue, the former forbidden city of the Vietnamese emperor, which suffered a lot of destruction during the Vietnam war especially in 1968 through the American bombing.
A trip to the Dong Ba market was part of our itinerary along with the visit of the Thien Mu Pagoda. Here we could also see the Austin Car which took the monk Thich Quang Duc to Saigon in 1963 where he burnt himself to protest against the governments discrimination of the Buddhists. Diem, the President of South Vietnam at the time was catholic. A short time afterwards the President and his brother were removed and finally executed by Diems military.Read more