The old town of Hue is situated within a 3km x 3km square fortress:
Hue old town on Google.Maps
You must buy an entrance ticket to visit the citadel called the Imperial City (a smaller fortress within the fortress, "Vietnamese Grand Palace") where all the architectural luxury is concentrated. However, the rest of the territory is available for free and that's amazing for those who love to walk with the camera.
There are no century-old residential areas preserved there, and residential buildings inside the walls are unremarkable. But the frame for this unremarkableness is charming. Massive fortress gates and ancient bridges continue to play the role of the main transport arteries there.
Ancient constructions and old trees are found here and there. Plus, some of the citadel's exquisite structures are visible to those strolling outside.
That's what I mean.
Traffic in Vietnam is awful, and the modern architectural face of the cities is disharmonious so a walk around the perimeter of the citadel walls is a fantastic opportunity to immerse yourself in silence and beauty, especially in December, when there are few tourists.
The canal surrounding the walls of the citadel: no traffic, no shop signs, no bustle of any form.
Not many large birds compared to Thai parks although I distantly noticed a couple of egrets (herons?) there; bats are numerous.
Another mirage on a damp December night.
And this is already the outer wall; and that's one of its gates:
There are many people living inside the fortress, and narrow ancient gates are the only way for the traffic.
No sidewalk but fun.
Everything is almost like 100 or 200 years ago.
Few tourists in December so you can enjoy night tranquility to the full extent. But the con of December is that it's very rainy. I don't remember a single sunny day in December, most rainy days were gloomy, without decent downpours (like in October/November) but drizzling rarely stopped.
However, the noon of December 22, 2024, was dry and light although cloudy so I decided to take advantage, and set out for a stroll.
I enjoyed a long walk without drizzling
and, then, was gifted with a spectacular downpour in the evening.
Standing under an awning and enjoying the water show.
Fun for me but not for those who need to get home.
The rain was pounding the awnings and roofs so loudly that a local woman looked out to watch the downpour and we communicated with gestures.
Everything was babbling all around, there was excitement in the air.
Cleansing and renewal; streets were washing their faces with rain.
It stopped as suddenly as it started.
I hurried to photograph the luxury that the precipitation had brought.
Puddles, reflections of lights, drops of rain on windows.
Cycle rickshaws await buses with package tourists but, in December, almost no one is interested in them; that's the low season.
Time to hibernate.
Though heavy rainfalls are common almost anywhere in the world, a sudden wild downpour reminds me of Krabi, Thailand, first of all. I've seen many like it there. One moment, it's a calm hot evening, and the next, it feels as if someone is pouring a giant bucket of water over the streets. You are running to escape the rain, and your flip-flop is swept away by the torrent rushing down the street. You are chasing after it, you are laughing, and everyone is happy around you, knowing it’s one of the best periods of their lives.
More Southeast Asian adventures to come, stay tuned! Check out my previous posts on my personal Worldmappin map.
I took these images with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 on mostly December 22, 2024, in Hue, Vietnam.