Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Hue Day Tour Hue Citadel and Imperial City (1/8)

 

Back to the city, our bus was there waiting for us, and soon we were back joining the busy traffic of the city Hue. Compared to Ho Chi Minh, it was nothing :D

Interestingly, no heavy vehicle was allowed inside the imperial city area, so we had to walk in. It was a short walk in, and our guide went ahead to get us our admission tickets into the city. We followed slower behind, busy taking photographs of the sceneries and view. It gates leading in kinda reminded me of Cambodia.

The Hue Imperial City was built similar to the Forbidden City of China. That meant they have many rings of area around it, going further and further into the center were the palace would be located. So the first view we got was the gates leading into the city.  It was also surrounded by a moat. 

Even here, you could see ladies dressed up in costume taking photograph. But instead of the Vietnamese costume, here they were dressed in imperial costume, and looked rather Chinese actually. It felt very similar to Beijing's Forbidden City vibe, but with less crowd, and at a smaller, less grander scale. 

Outside the palace gate, there was a sign that says "Get Down from Horse". I guess this is where ancient people used to get down from their horse before making their way into the palace. I remember we saw a similar place in the castle of Kumamoto too. But here in Hue, it was just a sign, and I wasn't sure do you park your horses here? Or can you bring them in? In Kumamoto, there was like a stable where you could leave your horses and walked up to the castle. 

After our guide got us our tickets, we walked towards the main entrance gate. It looked like it was made of wood and surrounded by greens. It was a few storey in height, the upper level probably a security guard post to view all that is approaching the gate.

Here is a closer look of the entrance. I bet they put a drum up there too as a form of a signalling tool.

After entering the wooden looking gate, we were greeted with a bridge across a large pond. I guess this is where we officially enter the palace ground! It looked really pretty!

Here is a selfie of me of the entrance gate behind me as I crosses the bridge.