Meeting the Nguyen Dynasty
Trip Start
Oct 20, 2008
1
69
93
Trip End
Jan 31, 2009
Hue,
Vietnam
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Hue wasn't really as bad as I though it would be. Only a few touts jumped on to me as I got off the bus and they promptly walked away when I told them that I already had a hotel reservation. For a change, I had in fact made a reservation 2 nights ago, suspecting that hotels might be booked due to New Year's. Reserved through hostelworld.com, as always. For New Year's, I gave myself a treat by staying at a $20 hotel, instead of a regular $10 one.
The staff at the Sports Hotel was very warm and they spoke good English. The room looked decent too. Exactly the same quality as my first hotel in Hanoi.
After checking in, I tried to arrange my transportation to Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City. To my surprise, a bed on the express train to HCM City cost $50 and took over 20 hours. On the other hand, a Jetstar plane ticket cost $55 and took just an hour. So, I bought a plane ticket after learning that Jetstar was an Australian company.
First thing first... I started off by exploring Hue on foot. This small city, barely over 300,000, was far more developed than Hanoi. There weren't nearly as many motorbikers/pimps bugging me either.
Crossed the bridge over the Perfume River into the Citadel. It was cool to see that at least half of the city was built within walls.
Hue
This is because Hue was the 19th and 20th Century capital of the Nguyen Dynasty, the last of the Vietnamese imperial families.Within the Citadel, the Imperial Enclosure temples, palaces and the Forbidden Purple City. The Vietnamese imperial palaces differ from the Korean ones the same way that the Vietnamese temple architecture does.
Unfortunately, most of the complex was bombed during the Tet Offensive, as a part of the Vietnam War. As a result, most of the parts were not impressive, except for the temples in the Southeast. Moreover, there was quite a bit of conservation work going on. With the rain, there were mud and puddles everywhere.
Heavy, yellow roof tiles indicate that a building has been designated for the Emperor, similar to the function of the Turquoise tiles in Korea. The heavy, green roof tiles indicate that it has been designated for either civil or military Mandarins (imperial scholars).
Most of the buildings in the Imperial Enclosure don't have as much of a curve on their roofs as their counterparts in Korea or Japan have. In addition, most of them don't use heavy tiles but regular clay ones instead.
Some of the palace and temple exteriors were decorated with mosaics made with large chunks of porcelain. I had never seen this before in any other East Asian country that I have visited.
Only the eunuchs and the concubines were allowed into the Forbidden Purple City. This was the Emperor's pleasure quarters where gay affairs took place on a regular basis.
The National School
Similar to the Ottoman court...Walked around the residential parts of the Citadel area. Streets were well-paved, buildings well-maintained and most importantly, the barbers operated inside small shops, instead of cutting hair in the middle of the pavement.
Made my way to Y Thao Garden that came highly recommended by LP. It was an excellent choice for a lonely New Year's Eve lunch/dinner. They served a set 7-course meal that included everything from miniature spring rolls to Vietnamese seafood pancakes. The ambiance inside this old Vietnamese home was as enchanting as the taste and presentation of the food. $10. The only improvement that I can think of is replacing the beautiful garden they had with a Japanese Zen-style garden.
I went to the National School that was founded in 1896. Numerous Communist Party Leaders, including Ho Chi Minh, attended this prestigious institution. The middle school campus was extensive. It consisted of neo-Classical buildings with an East Asian flair. Reminded me of the Galatasaray High School in Istanbul...
Although the Vietnamese follow the Lunar calendar, like the Chinese, there was a New Year's celebration at the National School. When I returned to the hotel, I saw the same excitement in the eyes of the hotel staff. They had arranged a party with free food for their friends and customers. One of the female employees who had been hitting on me ever since I checked in asked me to dance. So, I started doing silly moves with a bunch of strange Vietnamese people and a few Canadian tourists. A moment nearly as surreal as my dance with the Koreans and the Dutch on the ferry to Busan...
After escaping the dancing frenzy at the reception area, went to my room and turned on the TV. Captain Jack Sparrow was on. i fell asleep before it was New Year.
From now on, I will visit the web only once a week, Travelpod excluded. This way, I will make more of my experience by keeping my concentration here and now where it belongs.
