26 September 2017
After spending our first day in Hue visiting the Imperial City and Purple Forbidden City of the Nguyen emperors, we allocated our second day to visit three of the most impressive tombs of Nguyen emperors. Some of the tombs actually served as palaces and living spaces for their families when they were very much alive.
The best way to visit the tombs was to hire a private taxi with an English-speaking driver for the whole day so we can visit these places at our own pace, while the taxi waited for us outside. In addition to the 3 tombs, we also made a stop at the Thien Mu pagoda.
Being a private tour, we could choose to start the tour at any time of the day. At 9 AM, our driver picked us from our hotel in a spacious, air-conditioned Toyota SUV.
Tomb of Emperor Minh Mang
The first tomb we visited was Minh Mang’s. A total of 13 Nguyen emperors ruled Vietnam from 1802 to 1945 and Minh Mang was the second emperor. He ruled from 1820 to 1840 and started building his tomb in 1820, the year he started his rule. The tomb was uncompleted at the time of his death and was actually built by his successor, Thieu Tri.
Besides being proactive in his tomb planning and construction, Minh Mang was also extremely productive. As an emperor with plenty of concubines in those days, he fathered 142 children! Our taxi driver was shaking his head in amusement as he told us that before we arrived at his tomb.
His tomb was located south of the Citadel, next to the Perfume River and took about 25 minutes by car to get there.
We entered the tomb complex from a side gate, walked across a bridge over a stream with withering lotus leaves, and came to a large compound.
The forecourt with two rows of stone statues, flanking the Stele Pavilion. All the other buildings in the tomb complex are lined up in a straight axis, best viewed from the above photo.
A main gate (Dai Hong Mon) with 3 entrances is lined up with the first building with two rows of stone statues, comprising an elephant, a horse and several mandarins and soldiers on each side.
A main gate (Dai Hong Mon) with 3 entrances. Like all imperial gates, the centre entrance is reserved for the Emperor (dead or alive).
Detailed carved stone dragons flying through clouds decorate the stairs leading up the stele pavilion.
The tall stele in this pavilion is inscribed with the biography of Minh Mang.
Passing through the Stele Pavilion, we walked through the Hien Duc Gate and entered the compound where the Sung An temple is located.
The Hien Duc Gate guarding access to the Sung An temple, as viewed from the top of the Stele Pavilion.
Hien Duc Gate with the larger center entrance closed.
Center entrance of the Hien Duc Gate that is reserved for emperor only.
Sung An temple, with a row of porcelain vases in front.
Sung An temple, constructed from 1840 to 1843, was the place to worship Emperor Minh Mang and his empress. In front of the Sung An temple, at the eastern side, there is a small temple, constructed in 1840, honouring the civil mandarins during Minh Mang’s reign.
We almost missed seeing the actual tomb of the emperor due to some restoration works taking place behind the Sung An temple. Despite some fencing and boarding up of the work area, we managed to find a gate that led us to the rear area.
Behind the Sung An temple, there is a gate leading to the rear area.
The rear area has more gardens, ponds and bridge leading to a small artificial hill where the emperor is supposedly buried.
Garden with bridge leading to the Pavilion of Light.
Pavilion of Light (Minh Lau).
View from the back of the Pavilion of Light.
The Pavilion of Light is built in 1841 as a tribute to the emperor’s talent and contribution. It symbolises his provisional step-over before arriving at the final resting place.
The emperor is supposedly buried in the hill beyond this stone bridge.
This huge pond is within Minh Mang’s tomb complex.
Tomb of Emperor Khai Dinh
The next tomb we visited belonged to Emperor Khai Dinh, the second last Nguyen Emperor who reigned from 1916 to 1925. Like Minh Mang, Khai Dinh started construction of his own tomb before his death.
Unlike Minh Mang, Khai Dinh had only one child Bao Dai who became the last emperor. Bao Dai abdicated in 1945 and went into exile. Hence the tomb of Khai Dinh was the last Nguyen tomb to be built.
Layout of Tomb of Khai Dinh. Relatively smaller in size compared to the other tombs.
The tomb was located on the side of a mountain. Construction started in 1920 but was still uncompleted at the time of Khai Dinh’s death. Bao Dai completed the tomb in 1935.
To enter the tomb complex, we had to climb up a wide flight of stairs, lined with stone dragons (of course) before passing through a gate. Then another flight of steps before arriving at the forecourt.
The Stele Pavilion stands in the middle of the forecourt, with two rows of stone elephant, horse and mandarins and a tall obelisk on each side.
These statues were carved from a single large stone.
One thing that is lacking in this tomb is greenery. No garden, no ponds, few trees. Mostly cement, concrete and stones. This made the entire site hot like a furnace under the blazing sun.
Perspiration was running into my eyes as I took photos of the stone statues at the forecourt.
An officer and a gentleman.
A mandarin offered me a drink. Thanks so much.
Stone dragons on the stairs of the stele pavilion.
Some shade was provided by the Stele Pavilion, a good rest spot before continuing exploring the site further.
Inside the Stele Pavilion with a stele documenting the emperor’s life in its inscriptions.
More stairs needs to be negotiated before we arrived at the Thien Dinh Palace. The palace is located at the highest spot within the tomb site and offers a panoramic view of the surrounding valley and hills.
View from the compound where the Thien Dinh Palace is located.
Thien Dinh Palace in Khai Dinh Tomb.
We had to enter from the right side of this building and exit from the left. Thankfully, there were some benches with electric fans just inside the entrance for visitors to take a breather and cool down slightly before exploring the main hall with Khai Dinh’s altar.
Details on the roof of the Thien Dinh Palace.
Khai Dinh is known to be a “fashionista”, accordingly to my guide during the Citadel tour. This could be seen in both his dressing as well as the ornate decorations inside the Thien Dinh Palace.
Ornate and colourful ceramics and glass fragments formed pictures that lined the walls.
There are pictures depicting flowers in spring, summer, autumn and winter seasons.
Altar for worship of Emperor Khai Dinh. The Royal Crypt with his grave is located behind.
Beautiful lanterns hung from the ceilings. The ceilings were painted with pictures of dragons playing in swirling clouds.
Emperor Khai Dinh’s grave with a figure of him sitting on his throne, inside the Royal Crypt.
There is also a side room displaying curios and gifts to the royal family. Some of these items originated from France. This included a 20th Century porcelain bucket to ice drinks, given by the French government to Emperor Dong Khanh, Khai Dinh’s father. There is also a beautiful porcelain flower pot from France, painted in red and gold, clocks and a bronze incense burner encased in its own cabinet in the center of the room.
Cabinet showcasing many curios.
A bronze incense burner given to the emperor for his 40th birthday in 1924. It is decorated with motifs of unicorn, vine and squirrels, a unique combination of Eastern and Western themes.
The tomb of Tu Duc or Khiem Tomb contrast greatly with Khai Dinh’s tomb. Much larger in size, the site is a beautiful landscape with much greenery, a man-made lake, lake side pavilions and luxurious buildings (now mostly in ruins). The island in the middle of the lake is said to be stocked with small game, for the emperor’s hunting pleasure, in those days.
Layout of Tomb of Tu Duc.
Tu Duc, the fourth Nguyen emperor, ruled for 36 years from 1848 to 1883 and had the longest reign. Khiem Tomb was built between 1864 and 1867 and used as a palace (Khiem Palace). It became Khiem Tomb after the emperor passed away.
Entrance gate to Tomb of Tu Duc.
We entered the site from a gate that is very similar to those found within the Imperial Palace at the Citadel. A stone pathway led to the man-made Luu Khiem lake, complete with a lakeside pavilion and a boat landing platform.
The Xung Khiem Pavilion on the man-made Luu Khiem lake in the tomb of Tu Duc.
The boat landing pavilion and the Xung Khiem Pavilion.
Khiem Cung Gate with three entrances. As expected, the middle entrance is boarded up.
A flight of steps led up to the Khiem Cung Gate, controlling access to the courtyard where the Hoa Khiem Palace is located.
Hoa Khiem Temple was known as the Hoa Khiem Palace previously.
The Hoa Khiem Palace was where the emperor used to work when visiting this place. It now served as a temple (Hoa Khiem Temple) where he is worshipped.
Behind the Hoa Khiem Temple, there are more buildings where we could see a theater with props, including a throne and a sedan chair.
Is this a real throne?
Leaving the restored buildings, we entered a compound with mostly ruins. These were places where concubines once resided when they accompanied the emperor to this place. Although Tu Duc has many concubines, he had no offspring, resulting in quite a messy situation after his death since there was no clear successor.
There was not many interesting things to see in these ruins but they made good photo opportunities.
We went back to the Luu Khiem lake and followed a path that led us to the necropolis.
Forecourt in the Tu Duc tomb with stone figurines.
Here we saw the now familiar layout of a forecourt with rows of stone figurines, a stele pavilion, followed by gardens and then the tomb area.
Stele Pavilion with a 22 ton stele, inscribed with Tu Duc’s biography. He wrote the self-critical autobiography himself, before his death, since he has no offspring. Two obelisks stand on each sides of the Pavilion.
Landscaped lily pond in front of the tomb area.
Massive gate pillars on the entrance to the walled enclosure containing the emperor’s sepulcher.
The emperor’s sepulcher.
It is said that the emperor is not buried within this tomb!
Thien Mu Pagoda
Our last stop for the day was the Thien Mu Pagoda, located by the banks of the Perfume River on the same side as the Imperial City. Tourist can access the site by “dragon boats”, wooden boats adorned with dragon heads, from the Hue City Center. We saw a few of such boats as we made our way to the entrance of the pagoda.
A popular way to access the Thien Mu Pagoda site is by “dragon boats”, wooden boats adorned with dragon heads, from the Hue City Center.
Thien Mu Pagoda is also known as the Pagoda of the Celestial Lady. A flight of steps led from the road and river bank up to the site.
The octagonal seven-level Thien Mu Pagoda as seen from the entrance to the site.
On each side of the pagoda, there are pavilions. One pavilion contains the Great Bell of Thien Mu Pagoda, cast in 1710 and weighs 1985 kg. The other pavilion houses a marble tortoise carrying a stone stele on its back. There is also a stone stele containing a poem, composed by Emperor Khai Dinh while going for a walk at Thien Mu Pagoda.
Entering a gate with fierce looking door gods at each side, we saw the Dai Hung Shrine at the end of a long walkway.
Three statues of Buddha are enshrined inside the Dai Hung Shrine and are visible through the folding doors.
View of the joss sticks prayer urn, courtyard and entrance as seen from the shrine.
Behind the shrine is a building that housed a blue Austin car. This is the car that a Buddhist monk named Thich Quang Duc drove from Hue to Saigon in 1963. He did self-immolation at a busy crossroad in Saigon, as an act of protest against the South Vietnamese government’s persecution of Buddhists at that time.
Blue Austin car that the Buddhist monk named Thich Quang Duc, drove from Hue to Saigon in 1963 before performing self immolation as an act of protest against the South Vietnamese government’s persecution of Buddhists at that time.
The famous photo of the monk in flames is hung behind the car. The Austin could be seen in the background in the photo.
Thien Mu pagoda was the last stop for our tour.
We drove past the Hue Imperial City where we saw the prominent Flag Tower or Ky Dai again.
View of the Flag Tower or Ky Dai from our taxi.
Stop and Go Cafe
We ended our tour at about 1.45 PM with a stop at the Stop and Go Cafe. This is a restaurant as well as a Hue tour operator. I had booked the above day tour via Internet prior to my visit to Hue.
The restaurant serves good local Vietnamese cuisine at a reasonable price. Not to miss are their signature Hue Royal Spring Rolls (Nem Ran) and delicious Rice Pancakes (Banh Khoai). The menu includes many western dishes too.
Delicious crispy rice pancakes (Banh Khoai) stuffed with meat and salad fillings. To be dipped in peanut sauce before eating. Best eaten with a glass of cold local beer.
Stop and Go Cafe’s signature Hue Royal Spring Rolls (Nem Ran), with chilli sauce dip.
Hue’s version of slightly spicy Beef Noodle soup called Bun Bo Hue.
A nice place to have a cold dessert would be the Bingsu King cafe, located along Nguyen Tri Phuong road, about 3 blocks away from our hotel, the Saigon Morin.
Bingsu King sells delicious Korean style shaved ice dessert with various selections of topping and ice cream, perfect for the hot and humid weather in Hue.
Where we stayed in Hue:
The Saigon Morin Hotel is a historic, French colonial-era hotel, located next to the Truong Tien Bridge and Perfume (Huong) River. On Le Loi Road in the city center, it is ideally located for walking to the Citadel, Dong Ba market, and surrounded by shopping, restaurants & bars.
Check latest prices and availability for this hotel when planning a trip to Hue.
Travel Tip
Entry to the Citadel/Imperial City and the Royal Tombs are chargeable. There are combo tickets for visits to these places that are cheaper than paying the entrance fees to each places separately. Check for these combo tickets at the ticket booth of any of the above sites.