#102 Finding our Hue in Vietnam
Part 2 of My Trip to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand
We left Hanoi early in the morning to board a flight to visit the central Vietnam city of Hue (pronounced HHHHwhay.) Several of our Vietnamese friends were from this region and strongly recommended visiting. My husband was very keen to visit the city after reading Mark Bowden’s fine book Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam. From the marketing copy,
“Played out over 24 days and ultimately costing 10,000 lives, the Battle of Hue was by far the bloodiest of the entire war. When it ended, the American debate was never again about winning, only about how to leave. Hue 1968 is a gripping and moving account of this pivotal moment.”
Hue was the capital of the country during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the Imperial City and administrative capital for the Nguyễn dynasty and later functioned as the local administrative capital during the French Indochina period. Thick stone walls surround the Imperial City which contains multiple palaces and shrines. The Imperial City of Hue is a UNESCO-designated world heritage site and sadly, many tours and travelers miss it because of its location and lack of accessibility.
We approached the historical site on people-powered cyclos and in a light rain, took a walking tour of the massive complex. Those ancient brick walkways get a little slick with a layer of rain on top. The Imperial City title evokes the complex by the same name in Beijing. The Vietnamese version is less opulent but also spectacular. I learned far more than I could retain about the royal dynasties and very sad modern history of Hue.
We stayed one night at the comfy Azerai La Residence. The colonial mansion at the heart of the city was built in 1930s as part of the residence of the French colonial governor. The art deco building has views over the Perfume River and overlooks the ancient Citadel. The guides report that flowers from orchards upriver from Huế fall into the water, giving the river a perfume-like aroma, hence the name. Of course, our views and sense of smell were obscured by rain clouds and a little fog.
Thien Mu Temple Phạm Chung 🇻🇳@pc hung_hcmc
The next morning, we boarded a coach to take the short ride to the Thiên Mụ Temple (meaning Temple of the Celestial Lady. Its iconic seven-story Phước Duyên pagoda is regarded as the unofficial symbol of Hue and the temple has often been the subject of folk rhymes and fables. The large complex now contains several temples and a Buddhist congregation of monks. We learned about the monks’ lives and routines.
The area became a hotbed of anti-government protest during the summer of 1963. South Vietnam’s Buddhist majority had long been discontented with the rule of President Ngo Dinh Diem since his rise to power in 1955. Diem had shown strong favoritism towards Catholics and discrimination against Buddhists in the army, public service, and distribution of government aid. Thien Mu Pagoda was a major organizing point for the Buddhist movement and was often the location of hunger strikes, barricades, and protests.
The temple also houses the Austin motor vehicle in which Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc was driven to his self-immolation in Saigon in 1963 against the Diem regime. It was the first of a series of self-immolations by members of the Buddhist clergy, which brought the plight of Buddhists to the attention of the international community. The historical photographs of the event are displayed near the car.
After out tour of the site, we boarded small boat to take a cruise down the Perfume River back to the city of Hue. Our visibility was poor due to fog but there was ample opportunity to buy a few souvenirs on board. Afterwards, we drove on to the countryside to visit Tu Duc’s Tomb- which is so much more than that.
The Hue region contains several palaces and kings from the Nyugen Dynasty and we visited the finest, the Temple and Tomb of Tu Duc. Tu Duc enjoyed the longest reign from 1829 to 1883 and built himself a very fine residence and mausoleum. The grounds were so lush that a small island in the center of a lake, was stocked with game for the king to go hunting. The island is still there, game all gone.
The area is the best preserved and maintained of the area tombs. We toured in a light rain to see an extensive complex of temples, pagodas, and statuary. Reportedly so much money was going into the construction that the locals rebelled. The king was then buried elsewhere to prevent plunder and the 200 laborers were killed afterwards to prevent talking. Harsh benefits of working for the king.
After our tour, we boarded a coach to begin the journey southward to the Danang and Hoi An region. What could have been a scenic drive was mainly obscured by low lying clouds and fog. Central Vietnam has one of those rainforests climates that surely punished our young soldiers serving in that area. Although we were staying at the famed China Beach, I never stepped on to it because of the weather. I checked my weather app. Over seven inches of rain fell during the day that we were there.
We took a short ride to the city of Hoi An, known as the City of Lanterns. Much of the ancient downtown area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and at in the evenings, thousands of lanterns illuminate the streets and set the Thu Bon River aglow with twinkling reflections. One can find the videos that travelers post online. Sadly, we missed that spectacle.
From the 15th to 19th centuries, Hoi An was a thriving trading port, with merchants from China, Japan, and Europe. Today, a sprinkling of ancestral houses and pagodas are in walking distance of each other inside the Ancient Town. the Japanese Bridge, was totally covered during our visit for an ongoing restoration. Tan Ky House, a merchant’s storehouse, and museum was worth visiting. The Phuc Kien Assembly Hall is a relic from a large Cantonese community that took residence in the city. Much of the warren of downtown streets and alleys has become one huge shopping mall with vendors hawking paper lanterns and silk scarves. Everyone is hustling to make a living.
We rested up for the next day, when an early morning plane ride would take us to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon. My shoes were soaked from rainy Hoi-An and my rain shoes opened a nasty blister. I was looking forward to some sunshine and dry shoes in the drier South of the country. The adventure only gets better from here.
