Immediatly, the heat hits. 23°C in Hanoi, 34°C here. And humid. Tour starts at 9.00 am with a visit to the Tomb of the penultimate Vietnamese king – Khai Dinh. 127 steps to the top in this heat, no wonder they had a tomb ready for him.
Very structured, symbolic and lavish. Statues representing civil and military mandarins – and tourists.
Final steps up to the tomb itself.
Ornate gateways, dragons on bannisters, ceramic friezes, stone/marble unicorns, turtles and elephants. All this cost a lot of money which was raised by a 30% “tomb tax” on the kings subjects. Coupled with the kings affectation towards European mores, and his close cooperation with the French, he was not a popular man.
Mrs M quite fancies something like this back home “to keep the dogs in”. Well, I made that last bit up….
Touch overdone for my tastes, but I can appreciate what he’s trying to say. The setting sun behind the throne indicates the king has passed away.
Detail of the ceiling painting, called “Hidden Dragons”. The artist painted this using his feet
Only 41 when he died. His son became the last king before being dethroned by Uncle Ho in 1945
Ceramic and coloured glass
Next stop, The Temple of the Celestial Lady. Built in early 1600, and now adopted as the symbol of the city.
Behind the pagoda, there is a Bhuddist temple to cater for approximately 9% of the population who are Bhuddist. (Roughly 80% not religious, 6% Catholic).
The dark space is the inner Bhuddist temple. People are taking off/putting on shoes – only bare feet in the Temple
The recognizable motif is an ancient Bhuddist symbol depicting Bhudda’s footprints.
Within the Temple grounds, water features and bonsai gardens create a very peaceful ambience.
Small figurines or “gnomes” give the landscape a lived in look
Bit of bonsai
Within this tranquility however is exhibited the car in which the priest who set himself on fire in Saigon started his final journey in June 1963. The iconic picture of his self immolation spurred on the USA to back Vietnamese Nationalists against the Catholic President, Ngo Dinh Diem.
President Diem, and his family (mostly beneficiaries of nepotism) did not take the threats from the Americans seriously, and this misjudgment cost him his life during a coup in November 1963. America found itself mortally linked to this far away country for the next decade.
At this point, Mrs M started to go native.
Ready for the rice paddies
Hue is bisected by the Perfume River, running Southwest- Northeast. Southern Hue is mainly government and educational buildings whilst the northern side is dominated by the Citadel
View from our hotel 10th floor showing the Perfume river and the red flag on the Citadel blockhouse. The Americans had to cross the bridge under fire to attack the Citadel
Vietnamese flag flying over the blockhouse on the Citadel wall
Palace grounds surrounded by 6m deep moat, fed from the Perfume River
Very forward thinking pc entrance arrangement to the Imperial Palace grounds with men to the left, women to the right and gender neutral, or Emperors in the middle
Although Hue is an ancient settlement, the Citadel/Imperial Palace combo was not built until early 1800 when Hue became Vietnam’s capital city under the Nguyen Dynastic Emperors
There are similarities in the layout to Beijing with the walled compound, palace and an inner Forbidden City. For those Feng Shuists, interestingly the orientation of the Citadel is to face south east towards the Perfume River whereas Beijing faces true south.
Fierce man – I’ve told you once before, an’ I won’t tell you no more, get down, get down, get down
As usual, the War raises its ugly head. The Citadel bore the brunt of vicious fighting when the N Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive in January 1968. In a surprise coordinated attack on over 100 cities across Vietnam, the N Vietnamese aimed to encourage a countrywide uprising against the American “oppresors”
Shell damage
Further scars of war
The North used the “New Moon” Festival, (Tet) when many South Vietnamese soldiers were on leave, to silently occupy the Citadel overnight. When the alarm was raised, bloody fighting claimed the lives of approx 550 American/South Vietnamese soldiers and up to 5,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. The difference in numbers being attributed to the use of air strikes by the US.
Bullet holes
The North Vietnamese were gradually pushed back and there was no popular uprising, however the scale and coordination of the attack changed American public opinion from “the war is nearly won” to “hot dang, this might not turn out so well for us”, or something similar.
Much of the Citadel was reduced to rubble but there has been a concerted efort by the government to restore war damage (across the country) in recognition of the rich history before Commsocialism draped a drab blanket of uniformity across the country. Oh, and tourists like a bit of heritage and spend much dolla.
The Reading Room
Inside the Purple Forbidden City
Roof guardians
Fish carping on about overcrowding
Mrs M, the consummate traveller
Next up was a bit of a surprise. We thought we would be taking a bicycle around the perimeter, but attached to the bike was a wheelchair. A tad embarrassing really.
It was a good 20 minutes later that the poor pedalist (in my case) was relieved of further duty.
To round off the day, our guide insisted on a visit to the market. Little bit of deja vu, but all said and done, they are fascinating places.
All the rage as a wedding decoration apparently
Exhausting but interesting day. Back to the hotel then a stroll downtown for a nice meal of fresh vegetable spring roll (served cold – Mrs M’ s favourite), chicken cashew nut curry and a crispy Vietnamese pancake thing (Banh Xeo).
My Tiger
The stylish Mrs Lan, our guide
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