Hue

We met Minh in the lobby at 5:00 am. We had an early morning flight to Hue and a day of activities once we arrived. Saigon airport is divided between two terminals, domestic and international. The international terminal is nice and new. The domestic terminal is a beast from the past. It only has a couple of gates, but the way you board the plane is like they did in the 50s or earlier. Passengers walk down a staircase to the tarmack. Busses load up the passengers and haul them out to the plane.

Vietnam Airlines actually was a comfortable carrier, no frills and on par with Southwest. They do humidify their cabins though. Just before takeoff we could steam pumped in on both sides of the overhead bins. At first, I thought it was smoke, but Chrissy told me what it was before I had time to panic.

The flight to Hue was just at an hour. As we flew into Hue, there was a light rain around the airport. The rice paddies and streets glistened with the fresh moisture. Hue is only 300,000 people compared to Saigon’s 8 million. Before we stepped off of the plane we could feel the slower more relaxed pace. As I gazed out over the airport, I couldn’t see a perimeter fence. From the airstrip the ground just blended with the farmlands surrounding us.

Binh, our new tour guide met us just outside of baggage pickup. As we drove toward the heart of the city, it was obvious that crossing the streets in Hue wouldn’t be a problem. They still followed the rules of the road that drivers in Saigon followed, but the roads were a little narrower and the traffic was much lighter.

Chrissy asked if we could get a cup of coffee on our way to the first tour, Binh graciously said that wouldn’t be a problem. He took us to the southern bank of the Perfume River and bought us some Vietnamese Coffee. The Vietnamese coffee is a French pressed brewed individually in the cup over a layer of sweetened condensed milk. Delicious! Across the river we could see a large Vietnamese flag flying above the Citadel, the site of major action between American Soldiers and the Viet Cong in 1968.

Our first tour stop was at the fourth Emperor’s of the Nguyen dynasty tomb. It is up the perfume river by about 5 kilometers. The tomb is a mirror image of what the Emperor’s palace in the afterlife would resemble. This Emperor was the second son of his father. According to Vietnamese traditions of succession, the first son to arrive at his father after his death was the son to assume the throne.

The grounds are not that old. The Nguyen dynasty took unified the country and moved the capital to Hue in 1802. The age of the structure is not impressive, neither is the size of the structure. What we liked best were the grounds and the architectural detail. Inside the front gate was a large pond with an island. Around the pond was a pavilion to launch a small boat. The pavilions steps entered into the water.

The roof structures are also different from the Japanese. It is obvious that both cultures use the sweep of the fan to design their roofs, each corner of the roof gently sweeps up matching the curve of a fan. The Japanese accomplish this by laying more tiles over the corners, the Vietnamese accomplish this with the structure of the roof. The Vietnamese structure is more impressive. Also at the peak of each roof the Vietnamese would place either a sun or moon in the center of the peak. On the outer sections of the peak two dragons would face the sun in the center. Dragon mouths also formed the drains where two roofs met. The dragons mouths would flow with water during the wet season.

The Vietnamese tombs also rely heavily on Feng Shui and they align their gates and important building according to this architectural principle. Closer to the Emperor’s tomb was a second smaller pond. This pond is the Emerald Pond and it is only filled with grass except for the rainy season. This pond is symbolic of the Emperors inability to father a son, necessary to carry on the dynasty. The Emperor did, however adopt three boys from his royal court. These sons then served as future Emperors.

We also visited the 13th Emperor’s tomb. This tomb was built in the 1920s out of formed concrete. The architecture is a blend of European and Asian influences. We arrived there just as the sun began pouring through the clouds. It made the climb up the nearly 200 steps very warm. Across the valley from this tomb is a large Budisatva, lady Buddha. She was built during the Vietnam War in hopes that she would bring peace.

Between the two tombs we stopped at a roadside shop. There were many shops like this along the road. All of them had colorful bamboo sticks arrainged almost like boquets of flowers. These sticks were to be used for incense. We stopped and watched a lady roll the incense onto the sticks. She had a lump of incense dough about the consistency of bread dough. She would hold the bamboo stick in her left hand and with her right hand she would use a trowel to roll the incense around the stick. Chrissy and I were amazed at the simplicity and artistry of how she created the sticks of incense.