Tag: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Travel Guide to 5 Days in Hue

On By Psyche CastillonIn Travel Guide4 Comments

The city of Hue (pronounced “Hway” with a smile) was the former cultural, political, and religious capital of Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty. The Nguyens ruled the country from 1802 to 1945. We all know what happened in and to Vietnam after 1945. Politics and society changed, and so did the seat of power. While Hue was almost obliterated during the Vietnam War, the city managed to keep some of the imperial complexes. In 1993, UNESCO inscribed the city and its surrounding areas, including the royal tombs, and temples as a World Heritage Site.

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Travel Guide: Borobudur

On By Psyche CastillonIn Travel, Travel Guide, UNESCO Sites1 Comment

This is my travel guide to Borobudur and I will start it by saying, Joel and I are destined for each other. I know that sounds off, but let me explain further. Joel and I went to different schools. He is also five years older. Joel is a true-blue Cebu boy, while I’m a true-blue island girl. There was no way our worlds would have collided. Except we met each other and our one common denominator is our high school Asian history teacher — Mr. Reynaldo Inocian.

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Hue Imperial Citadel, The Combination Ticket, and How to Avoid Being Scammed

On By Psyche CastillonIn Travel, UNESCO SitesLeave a comment

On our first day in Hue, at around 5 in the afternoon, we stepped inside the gates of the Imperial Citadel. A rickshaw driver, in uniform approached us, offered us a deal of 300,000VND (676PhP) for a tour of the citadel and surrounding royal tombs. It was our first day and it was a tempting offer but I thought it was a too-good-to-be-true offer especially because we already learned ahead that the citadel ticket costs at least 150,000VND (338PhP) per person.

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One Day in Hue on the Vietnamese Philosophy of Life & Death

On By Psyche CastillonIn Travel, UNESCO Sites2 Comments

Our tour guide was incredible. I am not sure if other guides of similar tours use the same spiel as his, but I thought it was creative, interesting, and unique. We started the day at the ferry terminal, and the tour guide, who also fetched us from our homestay and drove the boat occasionally, started his spiel with philosophical ramblings about life. In the afternoon, after our last destination, the tour guide, still full of energy, ended his spiel with philosophical ramblings about death.

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Thang Long Citadel and Ba Dinh Square

On By Psyche CastillonIn UNESCO SitesLeave a comment

Thang Long was the former name of Hanoi. It literally means “rising dragon” and this dragon is the same dragon that descended upon in Ha Long Bay, at least according to our guide, aptly named Mr. Vietnam. While Hanoi is famous for being a charming old-world timeless city, it was also the birthplace of many great empires, the remains of which has been inscribed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Continue reading “Thang Long Citadel and Ba Dinh Square” →