Days 92-95: 2/18-21/24 - Hue, the imperial capital of Vietnam
2/18
If you found this, go back, it aint ready yet
A chores day, we wandered a bit in the morning, and hit the shops after lunch. We found a hypermarket-mall-arcade-cinema and picked up some snacks, toiletries, and sunscreen. A Mat Kinh nearby was a source of contact solution. If you use hydrogen peroxide contact solution over regular cleaner, a continuing trial of your journey will be searching for that tetratomic molecule. We rewarded ourselves with some evening coffees by the river (when it comes to varieties and flavors of coffee vietnam has been second to none, said by a non-coffee drinker don’t come for me). That evening, we explored some walking streets and enjoyed the Sunday night energy of some lively restaurants (from afar).
Even on a Sunday night, this and many other streets nearby, were full of parties large and small sharing a meal and drink.
2/19
An early morning call to line up some dates to overlap with friends occupied me before breakfast. And after, Tommy Bao picked us up to give us the Hue tour loop. A well worn path followed by individual and group tours, this route around the imperial capital of Vietnam encompasses a temple, 3 mausoleums, and a stop off with some local artisans.
We started with a visit to the Thien Mu Pagoda. Originally built in the early to mid 1600's, it gained international notoriety for being the temple from which self immolation in protest of the Diem regime in the 1960s began.
On the way towards the famous tombs, we stopped at a stand to learn about incense and hat making. Visits to the tombs of Minh Mang (built 1840-42, ruled 1820-1841), Tu Duc (built 1864-67, ruled 1848-83), and Khai Din (built 1920-31, ruled 1916-25), filled out the remainder of the afternoon. These tombs for the second, fourth, and twelfth of thirteen emperors in the Nguyen dynasty painted an interesting picture of the state of the dynasty over time. Initially sprawling complexes with many buildings for wives, concubines, and children to eventually be laid to rest, Khai Din's is a more solitary affair, though no less grandiose. Heavily influenced by his time in France, the final tomb felt more distanced from the rest not by its modernity, but by its western artistic design. By the time Khai Din was anointed emperor, the dynasty had been a figurehead for the French colonial rulers for 30 years. The 30% hike in taxes under his reign was often blamed on the largess
of the tomb and his palace, even though this claim remains disputed.
After a long and hot day of visiting large outdoor tombs, we retreated to a late lunch, a nap, and an early dinner back in town.
Kaia learning how to roll incense sticks. Such a natural!
Tomb of Tu Duc
Khai Din's tomb (exterior)
Khai Din's tomb (interior)
Gate at tomb of Minh Mang. The majority of the tomb is actually sealed underground.
2/20
Our last day in Hue was mostly preparing for future travels. Some bookings and flights and sorting our visas for New Zealand and Australia took the morning, we sent our laundry off (wash and folds in SE Asia are truly wonderful), and took a cab out to a restaurant recommended by the owner of Chickpea Eatery in Hoi An: An Nhien.
After lunch we visited Hue’s imperial palace. Built at the beginning of the 19th, it is currently undergoing restorations after significant damage after the abdication of the emperor in 1945. The sprawling complex was filled with more writing and minute history than could be taken in in a day, but the scale and diversity of styles told the story of the varying tastes of the royal occupants. It was funny matching the portions of the royal palace to the corresponding tomb occupant from the mausoleums we had seen the previous day.
With an early flight the next morning, our evening became slightly more stressful when our clothes hadn’t arrived by the suggested 8pm. With some pestering, they eventually made it to our door at 11:30 (it is unclear if the clothes would have arrived without our pestering, the night shift front desk man’s responses were monosyllabic grunts).
The palace decorated by, you guessed it, Khai Din!
2/21
A travel day from Hue up to Ha Giang consisted of a cab to the airport, a flight to Hanoi, and a nerve wracking wait for a sleeper bus at the airport for a 5+ hour ride up into Ha Giang.
We repacked into backpacks for the four day journey ahead, and I conducted my nightly ritual of killing as many mosquitos in the room as I could. (It was 12).
