Vietnam - Hue

Tien Mu Temple

Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist Monk, burned himself in  Saigon in -1962

The above Austin Cambridge in Thien Mu Pagoda 

Entering the flooded Citadel

Entrance to the Forbidden Citadel

The Perfumed Citadel

Forbidden Citadel

From the Forbidden citadel

Rain lovers

Vietnamese Huemour

Wet fish wives of Dong Ba market

Mandarins and Soldiers at the Tomb of Khai Dinh

Tomb of Khai Dinh

Tomb of Emperor Khai Dinh

The journey to Hue was our introduction to tropical storms. We arrived at Hanoi airport for the short flight down to Hue at 5 p.m. Our flight at 7:30pm was postponed owing to Hue being in the middle of a tropical deluge of ark proportions, even the runways were underwater. We spent a couple of hours waiting and wondering whether the flights would be cancelled. The departure lounge was crowded with people going home for the weekend, I buried myself in Anthony Grey's epic novel about Vietnam until the flight was called just after 9 p.m.

Arriving at Hue, we were met by a guide who had spent 3 hours trying to get to the airport on the flooded roads. It took us the same time to get back although it is normally only a short 20-minute journey. The guide was apologetic about the rain and the blackout at our hotel when we arrived in the early hours. I found my headtorch and we found our way to our room in the Saigon Maron Hotel, the location of many events in Vietnam's long search for freedom. We were beginning to appreciate that it was not only the occupation forces that had wreaked devastation on the city. It may be built on the bends of the Perfume River but its history reeked of tragedies.

The next morning we looked out across the wide expanse of the Perfume River; cyclists and motorcyclists were swishing their way across the bridge all wearing capes and many wearing conical (non la) hats. It was still raining chopsticks and the dark grey skies gave no promise of any abatement. We had negotiated a later start with our guide and our first stop was the Thien Mu Pagoda with its tower and museum of the Buddhist Monk who had famously burnt himself in Saigon in protest against the discrimination against Buddhists and a demand for equality.

Hue was a remarkable place, built in 1802 by the Emperor of the Nguyen dynasty, its citadel is a massive walled city encircled by 10 kilometres of walls and a moat. The Perfume River provides the boundary to the southeast. A large part of the citadel was destroyed in fighting following the Tet Offensive in 1968 when the Viet Cong began a major sustained attack on the American-protected South Vietnam. Outside the citadel is a collection of planes, tanks and helicopters which reminded me of the anti-war song Eve of Destruction. Bullet holes were evident in many of the buildings and although the citadel was made a UNESCO site in 1995,  the majority of the buildings are in the queue for restoration.

The forbidden city at the heart of the citadel was home to the 13 Emperors of the Nguyen dynasty along with their mandarins, soldiers and concubines until the last Emperor, Bao Dai, abdicated and transferred power to the Viet Minh in 1945 after the overthrow of the Japanese. In the latter years, the Emperors had become increasingly unpopular and were seen as puppets of the French Colonialists and then the Japanese Occupation forces.

We visited the Tomb of Emperor Khai Dinh as we left Hue the next day. It was the most recent of the Tombs that are scattered around the outskirts of the city. We passed fishing villages alongside the massive Dam Cau Hai lagoon, and the families were clearing up the debris from the storm. We had been looking forward to a drive over the Hai Van pass as we travelled on to Hoi An but the views from the summit of the coastal road over Hai Van was enveloped in cloud.

Dam Cau Hai fishing village after the storm

From the summit of the Hai Van Pass