Situated in Thua Thien – Hue, Thien Mu Pagoda is one of the oldest and most fascinating religious sites in Vietnam. It has long lured tourists by its beautiful and ancient architectural structures of worship.

Thien Mu Pagoda (also known as Linh Mu Pagoda) is located in Ha Khe hill, on the north bank of Perfume River, in Huong Long village. It is about 5 kilometers from Hue city, which is easy to reach from the city center. Built in 1601 for the order of the first Nguyen Lord, Nguyen Hoang, who at that time was the governor of Thuan Hoa (today known as Hue), Thien Mu Pagoda can be regarded as the oldest pagoda in Hue.

Looking for city tours in Hue to Thien Mu pagoda? We got you covered!

Hue city private tour from Danang or Hoi An

Thien Mu Pagoda: the soul of Hue
Nguyen Thanh Van

Com Hen

Com Hen (rice with mussel) is a very unique cuisine of Hue. Com Hen contains rice, boiled mussel, star fruit, fish sauce, cabbage, onion, pepper, peanut, chili, and a variety of herbs. The specialty is all of these elements are cold. When people eat Com Hen, they add all the above ingredients to a bowl, and slowly add boiled mussel broth with chili sauce into the bowl (the broth is the only hot thing in Com Hen). Com Hen has an extremely spicy flavor as such, so gastronomes remember it just after one time enjoying.

Bun Bo Hue

Bun bo Hue (Hue style beef vermicelli) or more detail, Bun bo gio heo (beef and pig’s knuckle vermicelli) is a popular Vietnamese soup vermicelli dish, and one of the most typical foods of Hue, Vietnam. Fine combination of ingredients make the food famous; the broth is prepared by simmering beef and bones for a long period of time, after that a large range of different spices containing lemon grass and chili are added in. Shrimp paste holds no less importance. Hue people usually add thin slices of beef shank, chunks of boiled oxtail, and pig’s knuckles or pork into the bowl. It can also contain cubes of maroon brown congealed pig blood, which are good for those suffering from high blood pressure. The specialty is commonly served with a plenty of herbs like sprouts, lime wedges, cilantro sprigs, onions, and sliced banana blossom. Thinly sliced purple cabbage or iceberg lettuces are used in case of lacking in banana blossom. It is highly recommended for tourists to add a few of shrimp paste directly into the soup.

Banh Beo

Banh beo (water fern cake) is a kind of small steamed rice pancake. The name is to refer from the shape of the cake (like a water fern-Beo in Vietnamese). It is white in color, sometimes nearly transparent and usually has a dimple in the center, which is covered with savory recipes including chopped dried or fresh shrimp, scallions, mung bean paste, crispy fried shallots, fish sauce, rice vinegar, and oil.

Banh khoai

Banh khoai (delicious pancake) is so much like Banh xeo (sizzling pancake) since they both are made from rice flour, water, turmeric powder, added slivers of fatty pork, shrimp, bean sprouts and then pan fried. Banh khoai and Banh xeo also are wrapped in mustard leaf, lettuce leaves or rice paper, and stuffed with variety of herb, like mint leaves, basil and served with a sweet and sour mixed sauce. In Hue, Banh khoai is placed open-face instead of being folded in half like Banh xeo. Moreover, Banh khoai always goes with a fermented soy bean sauce, and people consider it a winter food owing to its greasiness and spicy taste of the sauce. Therefore, most Hue citizens only make them when winter coming.

Mam tom chua

The central of Vietnam is reputable for its Mam tom chua (sour shrimp sauce) and Hue is the best place for this unique sauce. Unlike normal shrimp sauce (has brown color and smooth surface), Sour shrimp sauce has orange color while shrimps still keep its original shape. It is quite simple to make this sauce. First, shrimps are clean by salt water (do not use normal water to avoid bad smells) and “cook” by strong rice wine. The shrimps will turn red. After that, carefully mix the shrimps with sticky rice, sliced lesser galangal, garlic and chili. Slowly put all the mixture into a jar covered by guava leaves. Just need to wait for 5-7 days and we have the mouthwatering sour shrimp sauce of our own making. This is the best sauce for boiled pork with vermicelli.

Source: vietnamonline.com

5 Must-try Foods When You Visit Hue
Nguyen Thanh Van

Not only the talented but the people whose footsteps have stamped many beautiful rivers world famous also said a lot about the Perfume River. Not only in words, but also in literature, poetry, music, and films. But perhaps, it is better to visit the place, to immerse in it, explore it, and … feel it yourselves on Vietnam vacation.

The Origin of Perfume River

The romantic river flows through Hue city, Thua Thien – Hue province. Perfume River has two sources. The left one originates from the Truong Son Mountains; it flows north-west through 55 majestic waterfalls, and then flows through the Bang Lang T-junction; the right source is shorter. After crossing over 14 waterfalls and through the wharf of Tuan, the right source reaches the Bang Lang T-junction and merges with the left source, forming the romantic Perfume River. Counted only from Bang Lang to Thuan An, the Huong River is 30 km long. The slope of the flow is not much higher than that of the sea; thus, the flow of the river is quite slow.

What Can Be Seen from a Perfume River Cruise

Perfume River is beautiful right from its source. It winds around the forests and mountains, carrying the aromas of tropical jungle herbs. The river slowly glides through the green, tree-shading villages including Kim Long, Nguyet Bieu, Vi Da, Dong Ba, Gia Hoi, Cho Dinh, Nam Pho, Bao Vinh, integrating with the fragrance of Hue flowers. The color of the water becomes greener after the flow crosses Ngoc Tran mountain – Hon Chen temple.

The greenish river twinkles just like sapphires under the sun. Traveling by boats to sightsee the dreamy Perfume River and listen to Hue’s folk songs at night is always a pleasure of tourists here.
The shades of the surrounding scenery such as streets, garden, pagodas, and temples are reflected on the river, making the beautiful river even more dreamy and romantic. It is said that it is Perfume River that makes Hue more peaceful, tranquil and harmonious with the long-lasting history and culture of the citadel.

Best Things to Do & See on a Perfume River Tour

Enjoy Hue Folk Song

Visit Hue, tourists will be immersed in local people’s folk songs when having a boat trip on Perfume River. One new feature of Hue folk song (Ca Hue) tour on Perfume River is that apart from utilizing traditional instruments to play traditional music, the instrumentalists can also play some familiar foreign songs for foreigners from different countries as well.

Hue folk songs tour is the combination of folk songs and royal court songs and is performed in two ways, North and South one. North music includes songs that are cheerful and formal. South music contains more than 60 sad songs. Orchestra performing Hue folk songs includes musicians wearing a turban, playing erhu, moon lute, flute, and monochord. The female singers wear traditional ao dai and play other instruments.

Get Closer to Local Life of Hue People

When the boat reaches Van Lau wharf, tourists will have chances to drop the floating lanterns on Perfume River under the instruction of the boat manager. This is an old custom of Hue people with the wish of being safe and sound. Each floating lantern represents its owner’s wishes.

Lighting the floating lanterns is considered an act to honor the spiritual and cultural values of Vietnamese people on big holidays and festivals.

Source: vietvisiontravel.com

Perfume River
Nguyen Thanh Van

Located at the southwest corner of Hue Imperial Citadel, The To Temple is a place of worship for the Nguyen kings. This is the largest and most important temple of Hue ancient capital.

Behind Mieu Mon is Hien Lam Cac, a three-storey building is considered a memorial to commemorate the merits of the Nguyen kings and other great ministers. Hien Lam Cac is the highest building in the Imperial City.

The To Mieu Temple, located behind Hien Lam Cac, is a very large wooden structure, consisting of two consecutive buildings set on a height of nearly 1 meter. The area of a rectangular ground, an area of 1500 m².

The image of the dragon in The To Temple.

Before 1958, the temple had only 7 worship projects of kings Gia Long, Minh Mang, Thieu Tri, Tu Duc, Kien Phuc, Dong Khanh and Khai Dinh. In 1958, three kings against the French colonialists Ham Nghi, Thanh Thai and Duy Tan were worshiped.

The To Temple was built in 2 years (1821-1822), originally only used to worship Gia Long King – The To Cao Emperor (hence the name The To Temple). Later, the temple became a place of worship for all kings of the Nguyen Dynasty.

Source: kientruc.com.vn

The To Temple – the most important place of worship of the Nguyen Dynasty
Nguyen Thanh Van