Hue – It’s Two Syllables and Not a Color

Hue was the destination. Let’s get to the pronunciation. Penny thought it took me a very long time to get it right! It is not like the English word for color. It should have one of those little things over the “e”, but I don’t have that on my computer. The nuances of the pronunciations vary according to the region of the country, but “Who A” will be understood!

Spanning both sides of the Perfume River, the Imperial City of Hue is one of the most popular destinations in Vietnam. It is well known for its numerous 19th century ruins, royal tombs and of course a market. We checked in to our hotel (2-3 stars are more than adequate) and had enough time and energy to wander through the market. After the solitude of My Son, the rush hour traffic of two-wheelers (motorized and not) was at times overwhelming!









Dong Bo Market was busy and it had something for everyone: inside booths and outside stalls had produce, spices and a particularly large selection of seafood. Unfortunately, there were way too many flies for my liking. There were many Kodak moments, nonetheless.














As we headed out to dinner, the heavens opened up: thunder, lightening and a deluge of rain, coinciding with a momentary loss of electricity. Did I mention that Hue has the distinction of being one of the rainiest cities (about 120” each year) in Vietnam? This was our first rain.

By the morning the temperatures were in the 80’s and significantly less humid for the moment. Our first stop was the Imperial Citadel, a 6 square mile walled fort that dominates the city. Construction of the citadel was begun in 1804 and it served as Vietnam's capital until around 1945. This moated area includes the Thai Ho Palace and Forbidden Purple City, the former home of the royal family. The first thing you'll see on approaching it is Cot Co, the big flag tower.



The main entrance, through the Noon Gate, is so named because the sun, representing the emperor, is at its highest at noon. Facing south, the gate is also associated with prosperity. (I need to mention here that I became a millionaire in Vietnam – more about that later.) The Palace is the most important of the structures as this is where the emperor received important Vietnamese dignitaries and foreign diplomats.



The Noon Gate is behind us in this snap. Only the Emperor could use the central doorway, nobles used the side doors and mounted horsemen used arched doorways further to the side. The gate, constructed in 1833, is built in a U-shape to symbolize open arms for guests and incorporates repeated uses of the number 5 and 9 -- the luckiest numbers. 100 columns support the upper portion of the building.
I was fascinated by the decorative use of colored china and porcelain in the construction of all the buildings. The big drum is a magnet for tourist’s fingers!















There were a few busloads of school children visiting today and it appeared that this was the setting for their class picture.











I had to laugh when I remember my own grade school class pictures being taken on the stage of the auditorium.

The main palace inside, the Thai Hoa Palace, is ornately decorated in red lacquer and gold.



Further in, there are the halls of the mandarins on either end - military mandarins on one side and civil on the other. These halls were where the mandarins dressed in their ceremonial robes for royal functions.

Much of the interior was destroyed during the 1968 Tet offensive when the North Vietnamese held the fort for 26 days before being driven out by American forces. The damage inflicted to the architecture is still being repaired, but the Citadel may never be fully restored.

The moat is well stocked with carp; they are especially large from being fed by many tourists. There is a tale from Vietnamese folklore about a carp that wanted to become a dragon. The carp worked so hard everyday that it eventually became a dragon. Teachers and parents use this story to encourage their children to work hard at school so that they can become whatever they want to be.









The Thai Binh Lau (Royal Library) stands in a garden with a small pond and a large bonsai.




Beyond there were pavilions used by concubines.









Walking to the back of the citadel there was little to see. The theme of the dragon is very visible in the design of this pond as well as on many of the steps. The dragon symbolizes power and has long been associated with the emperors.



On the return, we turned down a side path to The Temple.














Outside, there are nine urns, cast at the request of Emperor Minh Mang in 1836, with nine different names symbolizing the Nguyen dynasty.


















On each of the urns is a finely carved collection of the 17 traditional Vietnamese patterns like stars, rivers, mountains, seas an ocean, vehicles, forestry and sea products. The patterns on these urns constitute a real encyclopedia on the country. This precious cultural heritage is incredibly well preserved and reflects the exquisite talent of Hue bronze casting artisans.

The are many exits from the Citadel and some are more decorative than others. This one was one of my favorites.












On the left bank of the Perfume River set high on Ha Khe hill is a Buddhist temple that dates to the turn of the 17th century.
















Thien Mu Pagoda, a seven-storey pagoda is one of the oldest and most beautiful of the religious buildings in the country. Located between a river and a pine forest, the pagoda is deeply rooted in local legend. As the story goes, an old woman once appeared on the hill and said that a Lord would come and build a Buddhist pagoda for the country's prosperity. Hearing of this, Lord Nguyen Hoang ordered the construction of the pagoda of the "Heavenly Lady" (Thien Mu).

The pagoda was renovated in 1665. A stele was erected on the back of a marble tortoise in 1715.













There is a special sort of "shrine" here to one of the former monks of the temple. At one end of a carport is an old rusty sky blue Austin on blocks.



It was in this car that the monk, Thich Quang Duc took himself to his self-immolation in a busy Saigon intersection in 1963. He was protesting against the persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnam's administration. Photos of his self-immolation were circulated widely around the world and brought attention to the policies of the Diem regime.

Behind the tower, the main sanctuary is situated at the back of a pleasant courtyard. In addition to the monks’ quarters, there are rooms for the novices, whom were walking about the courtyard when we were there.















Phung found a great lunch spot and it was almost like being in cooking school, only we were not cooking.















I photographed most of the shrines that were omnipresent.









After lunch we bicycled (hold on to the handlebars tightly) through the city to the home of a royal descendant. I thought this little oasis in the city was called the Temple of the Princess, but it might be a figment of my imagination. Within the walls of this estate was a feng shui designed sanctuary.

















This delightful man, a bit self-serving, is connected to the royal family by marriage. We had a guided tour of the garden and then the house. His historical artifacts and memorabilia are extensive and he had stories about each piece.

Our brains were overloaded with new knowledge and it was time to tend to our bodies. Penny, Jenny and Caroline had decided early on that a massage in each city was reasonable. We found an establishment that appeared legitimate and we went in.










We started laughing when we were handed the smallest of towels to wrap ourselves in. Communication was a bit problematic, but eventually we were given towels large enough to cover-up.

This was my first experience of having a very petite Asian woman jump up onto the massage table with me. Quite an experience – enough said!

And the adventure continues as we explore the Perfume River…

Going to Heaven – Really?

We were heading north into Central Vietnam and opted for an early departure to avoid some of the heat and the crowds of tourists who descend upon My Son. From Hoi An north to the former DMZ, the central part of the country is rich in historical sights and has a comparable amount of natural beauty.

If one thought that the Chinese shaped Vietnam until the French moved in, My (pronounced me) Son is the evidence that there was Indian influence as well. The kingdom of Champa flourished from the 2nd to the 15th century; the remains of the kingdom are mainly found at My Son. At its pinnacle, Champa controlled the entire central coast of what would later become Vietnam. The Chams, Hinduised through their trading contacts with India, functioned as a so-called confederation of five states that were named after regions of India. One in particular is Amaravati (Quang Nam).

At the beginning of the 10th century Champa was under military and political pressure, and lost ground during each decade moving forward. By the late 1400’s, Champa was essentially a “broken” country. It wasn’t until the 1800’s under the reign of Minh Mang, that the Vietnamese were victorious in taking the area as well as the southern Cambodian areas of the Mekong Delta and Prey Nokor (later named Saigon).

Although Champa disappeared, the Cham people did not. While the kingdom was enveloped by the Vietnamese, some of the Cham remained in their former homeland and others fled to neighboring Cambodia. Today, the “Eastern Cham” are divided between the Mekong Delta in the south and the central coast. They are Muslim and Hindu respectively. The “Western Cham” in Cambodia adopted Islam centuries ago. The legacy of the Champa, both religious and artistic, has survived in this area.

The ancient Cham ruins at My Son provide a journey back in time. The rust colored ruins covered in a leafy sea of myrtle and green vegetation are all that remain of the religious capital of Amaravati, the greatest of the Cham states. Built in the 4th century, the Kingdom remained fully occupied for 1000 years. This makes it the longest occupied of all the major monuments of Southeast Asia. The backdrop of Cat’s Tooth Mountain (God Mountain) was planned. It served as a religious and intellectual center where Champa kings were crowned and buried.

















The Cham worshipped a dual cosmology, honoring both male and female deities.





My Son represented the male God king – evidenced by the sacred Cat’s Tooth Mountain and Bhadresvarain ( Bhad abbreviated for king; esvara abbreviated for Lord Shiva). My Son was the creation of its own cosmos: Cat’s Tooth Mountain, an earthly linga, as the symbolic link between heaven and earth and a nearby river representing female fertility.































The temples of the Champa follow one basic design. They represent the Hindu abode of God and face the rising sun in the east; there is normally a Shivalinga at the center of the sanctum sanctorum; and they are usually three stories high and were a simple interior.



























The ornaments were attached after construction and then “fired” from the heat of a wood fire that burned around the structure for days. The outer walls of brick and sandstone were carved with amazing detail after construction.

During the height of the Champa kingdom, only a handful of attendants would have lived at My Son. When we arrived at the ruins, we were early enough to enjoy the solitude and beauty. It was easy to imagine these ancient structures decorated with colorful flags and energized with the humming of the monks’ incantations. You can feel the mysticism of the Gods of a bygone era.

Sadly, the last vestiges of the Champa Kingdom are in a significant state of disrepair.


















The temples sustained major damage during the American War. The Viet Cong used My Son as a key base, which forced US bombing of the site leaving about 20 of the original 70 structures intact. Bomb craters next to some of the temples are clearly visible. A major restoration project is underway. There is one riddle regarding the construction of the buildings that hasn’t been solved. How were the Chams able to build brick structures without cement or glue?

The site is often compared with some of the other great Indian influenced archaeological sites of SE Asia including Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Ayuthaya in Thailand. Apparently not as grand as what you would find in either of these countries, it is a major contribution to Vietnam's history. In 1999 it was named a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Caroline, Jenny’s French friend from her high school days as an exchange student in France, has spent quite a bit of time in Viet Nam over the past ten years. She has raised money for schools in rural villages.
















A building project was currently underway and we all wanted to see the school and children. It was off the beaten path, to say the least, but well worth the detour.



We were warmly greeted and the children loved having their pictures taken.














The new addition would more than double the size of the current schoolhouse. Noontime dismissal was interesting, as bikes seem to me the major mode of transportation.


And the bikes were loaded!

The drive to Hue, our ultimate destination, is said to be the most scenic in all of Vietnam. The road, of course, is narrow and climbs at a steep grade along the coast. The 12 mile drive (just a bit different from the one in Newport, RI) was complete with switchbacks, hairpin turns, waterfalls and dense vegetation on the mountainside and breathtaking views of the bowl-shaped Bay of DaNang on the other. Amid the beauty of this vista, ironically, is a leper colony.



We climbed through many curves for close to an hour. Although a bit hazy at the crest of the Hai Van Pass, we lucked out with the weather. Hai Van means "Sea Clouds”, but the clouds would not ruin our day! It was a Kodak moment we couldn’t resist.

Let me go back to the title of the blog –“ Going to Heaven – Really?” As often as our guide Phung mentioned our route for the day, I always heard “heaven”, which at many points made sense, knowing that the road climbed to an elevation of over 1200 feet. It was only after doing a map check enroute, that I realized we would go through the Hai Van (not Heaven) Pass. Duh… So to answer that question – No, not really heaven, but glorious nonetheless!


Although not able to capture the “big picture” in my “snaps” the wide-angle view from the crest of the pass, captures both North and South Vietnam. Hai Van pass forms an imaginary boundary between the two.













There are remnants of the fortifications built by the French and later used by the South Vietnamese and the Americans. We had to stop here. Out of nowhere came a small group of souvenir sellers. One of the women was close on Jenny’s heels as she climbed this rock.










She was the most aggressive (still talking to us as the van door was closing on her basket) we encountered during the whole trip.
















It was all downhill from here. The hairpin turns seemed sharper, but the valleys, rice fields and lagoons were beautiful to see.



We stopped for lunch at the village of Lang Co. The restaurant sits on a peninsula, which separates a shallow lagoon from the sea.













Dining on the porch, we indulged in what felt like a decadent lunch of grilled calamari and tamarind crab (which is much too much work for me).
















Our server facilitated getting the crab meat out!



The remainder of the drive had small hills but more magnificent vistas. It was hard not to stop but there were only so many Kodak moment pit stops to make. As we got closer to Hue, the panoramic vistas gave way to the hustle and bustle of the city. It was wonderful to savor the beauty of this day.

And the adventure continues in Hue…