welltravelled

La Residence Hotel & Spa

La Residence Hotel & Spa

Hue, Vietnam | Flagtower Bastion
From myriad terraces, from balconies, even from the hotels top floor fitness centre, the view from La Residence drinks in the Flagtower Bastion of the Hue Citadel. Work on the 1.5-square-mile Citadel began in earnest in 1804 after the first emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty, Gia Long, consolidated his hold on the country and set 30,000 conscripts to work. Modelled on designs by the 17th Century French military architect, Sbastien de Vauban, the Citadel emerged as Vietnams most imposing Citadel (there were others in Hanoi, Saigon and even Nha Trang). During the First Indochina War in 1947, and during the Vietnam War in 1968, battles raged within the walls of the Citadel. The walls and bastions suffered from all the tribulation, but Vietnamese preservationists busied themselves on the brickworks after the war. Today, the Flagtower Bastion looms over a 165-foot wide moat, and the Perfume River.
La Residence Hotel & Spa Kamu Lodge

Kamu Lodge Experience

Mekong River, Laos | The Mighty Mekong
Theres isnt much electricity here, or, indeed, any mobile phone coverage. Forget about creature comforts such as wifi, cable television or even air conditioning, which is all rather the point, anyway. From verandas that apron each of these hybrid safari-tent and thatched-sala lodges, there is a view of the mighty Mekong, and the verdurous, jungled slopes across the river. Contemplation is what the experience is all about contemplation of the sluggish, coffee-coloured flow of the worlds 7th longest river and the natural cacophony of the jungle environs, 35 kilometres upstream from Luang Prabang. Here, theres little visual difference between what you see today and the days of the great French exploring expeditions of the 1860s when Francis Garnier and company journeyed past these banks, travelling toward the source of the Mekong, or when Henri Mouhot, the re-discoverer of Angkor, traipsed these jungles as a naturalist. Of course, if contemplation alone isnt all that enticing, theres a spa sala perched on the edge of the river. Ah, Asia...

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IRISH TATLER MAN

PG110-113 Asian Persuasion.indd 112

11/8/13 11:29:46 PM