This portion of our trip is also known as the blitz period. Today we are seeing the sights of Hue in a day and then driving to Hoi An in the evening where we will spend a day before flying south to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. Officially it's HCMC... but everyone still calls it Saigon, so that's what we're going with here. Anyway, back to our day in Hue.
It started with a boat ride up the Perfume River to the Tien Mu Pagoda. We're used to pagoda just referring to the tower... but here it refers to the entire temple complex. Anyway, we got there and climbed up to the temple grounds. Apparently, only the monks are allowed inside the pagoda, but we still got to see the rest of the grounds, including the tomb 
of one of the senior monks of the temple that had passed away a few years ago.
Also housed on the temple grounds is the car that the monk Thích Quảng Đức drove to the busy intersection in Saigon where he burned himself to death in protest to the Diem regime's treatment of Buddhists in Vietnam. It wasn't clear to us why the car was in Hue, but nevertheless... there it is.
From the pagoda, we drove to the Citadel and toured the grounds of the inner most area of the Imperial City, former capital of Vietnam. The Citadel included the Purple Forbidden City, home to the palace of the Nguyen Dynasty which ruled Vietnam from 1802-1945, when King Bao Dai declared Vietnam's independence from France and became the Emperor of Vietnam, instead. Not much of the citadel is left after extensive bombings by the Americans (when Hue was overtaken by Communist forces during the Tet Offensive). What's left of the Citadel is under UNESCO protection and is slowly being restored.
The first sight of the Citadel is the giant flag tower immediately in front of the East Gate – the main gate for the city, with different entrances for the King, mandarins, soldiers, and elephants. The second level of the main gate was used as a platform for ceremonies and celebrations.
Further in from the gate is a courtyard before you come to the throne room. The intricate carvings around the room were very impressive, and the throne itself does not disappoint, either. In case you forget that you’re in one of the main tourist attractions, though, there’s also a room where you can dress in the royal regalia and have your photo snapped on faux thrones – classic. We passed on the opportunity, but we did enjoy see this family get all decked out.
After the citadel, we went to lunch at a restaurant clearly catering to the tourists. I couldn’t tell you the name, but it was inside the first wall of the citadel. The food was all quite good, but our first course also came in an outstanding presentation, as well – a peacock of spring rolls!
Following lunch, we spent the afternoon exploring two of the Nguyen Dynasty tombs – Tu Duc and Khai Dinh. Tu Duc was the fourth king of the Nguyen Dynasty, ruling the country from 1847-1883. He presided over a great period for Vietnam – his death ushered in an era of colonialization and ultimately 
war. Despite his long reign (and apparently a large number of concubines), he never produced an heir, so upon his death, rule passed to his nephew. One of the Nguyen traditions for the King’s tombs is for the son of the deceased king to write his father’s accomplishments on a stone tablet to be place at the tomb. Tu Duc’s tomb was constructed well before his death, and he actually used the large grounds as a retreat from the palace in the citadel. He also took the time to write his own memorial, knowing he had no heir to do it justice.
It started with a boat ride up the Perfume River to the Tien Mu Pagoda. We're used to pagoda just referring to the tower... but here it refers to the entire temple complex. Anyway, we got there and climbed up to the temple grounds. Apparently, only the monks are allowed inside the pagoda, but we still got to see the rest of the grounds, including the tomb 
of one of the senior monks of the temple that had passed away a few years ago.Also housed on the temple grounds is the car that the monk Thích Quảng Đức drove to the busy intersection in Saigon where he burned himself to death in protest to the Diem regime's treatment of Buddhists in Vietnam. It wasn't clear to us why the car was in Hue, but nevertheless... there it is.
From the pagoda, we drove to the Citadel and toured the grounds of the inner most area of the Imperial City, former capital of Vietnam. The Citadel included the Purple Forbidden City, home to the palace of the Nguyen Dynasty which ruled Vietnam from 1802-1945, when King Bao Dai declared Vietnam's independence from France and became the Emperor of Vietnam, instead. Not much of the citadel is left after extensive bombings by the Americans (when Hue was overtaken by Communist forces during the Tet Offensive). What's left of the Citadel is under UNESCO protection and is slowly being restored.
The first sight of the Citadel is the giant flag tower immediately in front of the East Gate – the main gate for the city, with different entrances for the King, mandarins, soldiers, and elephants. The second level of the main gate was used as a platform for ceremonies and celebrations.
Further in from the gate is a courtyard before you come to the throne room. The intricate carvings around the room were very impressive, and the throne itself does not disappoint, either. In case you forget that you’re in one of the main tourist attractions, though, there’s also a room where you can dress in the royal regalia and have your photo snapped on faux thrones – classic. We passed on the opportunity, but we did enjoy see this family get all decked out.
After the citadel, we went to lunch at a restaurant clearly catering to the tourists. I couldn’t tell you the name, but it was inside the first wall of the citadel. The food was all quite good, but our first course also came in an outstanding presentation, as well – a peacock of spring rolls!
Following lunch, we spent the afternoon exploring two of the Nguyen Dynasty tombs – Tu Duc and Khai Dinh. Tu Duc was the fourth king of the Nguyen Dynasty, ruling the country from 1847-1883. He presided over a great period for Vietnam – his death ushered in an era of colonialization and ultimately 
war. Despite his long reign (and apparently a large number of concubines), he never produced an heir, so upon his death, rule passed to his nephew. One of the Nguyen traditions for the King’s tombs is for the son of the deceased king to write his father’s accomplishments on a stone tablet to be place at the tomb. Tu Duc’s tomb was constructed well before his death, and he actually used the large grounds as a retreat from the palace in the citadel. He also took the time to write his own memorial, knowing he had no heir to do it justice. 
The grounds of the Tu duc tomb are complete with a lake, and island and the traditional set of statues (civil and military mandarins, elephants and horses) leading up to the actual tomb. Upon his death, he was buried in the tomb by a secret passageway. Apparently, nobody knows exactly where in the tomb grounds he was laid to rest – to prevent possible looting of the tomb. All in all, the tomb grounds are very peaceful (giant trees, nice lake), and we enjoyed our visit.
Khai Dinh, however, decided to go a different direction for his tomb. He was influenced greatly by French and Western architecture and design, and his tomb reflects that both in design and material. A lot of the material (glass ceramics, etc) were imported to Vietnam for the construction of his tomb. Unlike the other kings, he did not include the traditional lake or trees in the design. Instead, his tomb is a massive structure climbing high on a hilltop (great view), full of imposing structure and statues. 
The actual burial structure contains some of the most elaborate and ridiculous ceramics that we’ve seen. It’s impossible to accurately describe, and unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photographs inside. Also unlike the other kings, it is known precisely where Khai Dinh is laid to rest… under several feet of concrete (no need to worry about looting!). After our visits to the royal tombs, we grabbed out stuff from the hotel and hopped in a car to ride down to Hoi An (a three hour drive). The drive was beautiful once we reached the coast. The road follows the coastline and goes up and down through the mountains, so there are great views throughout. The countryside in Vietnam truly is beautiful – rolling green mountains and hills everywhere. Seriously green.
While in Hoi An, we stayed at the Hoi An Hotel, apparently the first nice hotel to come into Hoi An. Let’s just say it left a lot to be desired, or at least our room did (and to be fair, we were in the main building, presumably the oldest of the several buildings). We had limited water pressure and limited hot water, quite hard beds with fairly decrepit sheets, and the worst breakfast during our time in Vietnam. It’s definitely possible that the other buildings have nicer rooms – if you’re staying at the Hoi An Hotel, I’d suggest you request a different room (or at least test out the bathroom before you commit to a room).
For dinner, we tried to make it to the Mango Rooms, recommended by Andy, but alas they were closed for the month (something the hotel neglected to mention when we asked if we would need reservations). Instead, we walked over to Café des Amis (thanks for the rec, Cat). We weren’t sure exactly what to expect as there’s no menu – you order either the seafood menu or the vegetarian menu. Viv and I each ordered the seafood menu, and Amanda ordered the vegetarian menu. We still aren’t sure exactly what we ate in each course, and there were several (soup, salad, and several different cooked items, with Crème Caramel for dessert), but everything was delicious. I think the vegetarian menu ended up being the overall winner, as we were all essentially sharing the dishes – good pick Amanda! Definitely put Café des Amis on your list of must-eats in Hoi An… the amazing dinner cost us something like $6 each.
1 comment:
You guys are having too much fun!!! Keep up the blog entries please!!!
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