Hue was the royal capital of Vietnam for many years and has ended up with some really neat architecture as well as attractive public spaces as a result. Wound up there for three days and felt a little hurried at that.
One of the best parts of Hue is that a big chunk of the city is contained within a moat and a wall, while within a second wall is a more restricted area for the emperor and his people. The emperor's area is now a ticketed tourist area and some work is being done to repair damage done by time and bombs. We intended to spend the better part of our first full day in the city looking around the emperor's area so after a leisurely breakfast we set out in the direction of the ticket booth. On our city map there was a chunk of shaded grey blocking a direct path to the citadel but when we got to the T junction indicated on the map we saw that there was actually an ally piercing the grey area. We figured we might save four minutes by not skirting the block of buildings so we headed in (I also really enjoying going through narrow roads). We bounced through the little allyways for a while hitting dead-ends and we finally figured that we weren't going to find a way through. It was just at our last turn around that the home owner saw us coming and in quite good english said "You are going the wrong way. Where are you going?" After a bit of an explanation he gave us some directions to get out of the ally maze. We thanked him and were turning away when all of a sudden, as if externally coming to a conclusion to an internal dialogue, he said "Ok. You come into my house." Since our last experience hanging out with locals had resulted in us chugging rice wine and having a dance party at five in the afternoon we were a little leery to accept the offer. We knew our time in Hue was going to be rushed and we didn't want to miss anything. In the end though our desire to chat with this fellow won over our inhibition and we accepted the offer.
Hien ended up being an employee for a western NGO (hence his English skills) who had done pretty well for himself. He had just built a new house for himself (and his parents) and was keen to show it off to us in a tour around. It really was a neat house, combining many of the nice features of the older Vietnamese homes we had seen as well as some newer construction standards: it was very open to the outside with large windows and patio doors and had a really nice garden while at the same time things could be made wind proof with good quality windows and doors. The highlight of the tour was probably when Hien showed us his lovely kitchen and then opened a door to a narrow sliver of cement with a bowl and a short stool on it. It turns out his mom is not comfortable cooking with the all the new hardware and has set up on an old school kitchen outside for herself.
After the tour we sat down with Hien in his living room. As it was Tet, the coffee table was already set up with snacks and, of course, alcohol and no sooner had we settled in than I was downing shots of whiskey and Meg was shooting red wine. The snacks up for offer were a little strange to us, quite honestly I don't know what they were to even describe them. The one thing that really stuck out though was a really delicious fermented soy product that smelled terrible but tasted a little like blue cheese. Our guest had brought out the soy dish late in the visit and I think it might have been a bit of a test. He was a surprised that we weren't disgusted by it and kept insisting that most Vietnamese people don't even like it. During our visit we also got to meet some other members of the family, parents, children, sisters and brothers and they were all very friendly. We also were able to observe the dad, dressed in his Tet ceremonial finery, performing prayers to the ancestor spirits at the little shrine set up in the house which was interesting to see.
Probably the most surprising thing to happen during the morning was when, out of nowhere, Hien said, "When I married my wife I told her that I gave her the key to my heart... But I had many keys made." He then proceeded to carry the key metaphor forward to describe how he had many keys for homes in the villages he visited for work and that in fact there were many homes that didn't even have keys (I think maybe he was done with metaphors at that point, or maybe we was just commenting on the loose morals of some of the women he knew). It was hard to know where to lead that conversation and the discussion soon turned to his sons video game playing. After about an hour and a half, many failed attempts to say farewell ("Just one more"), and a half dozen shots we headed back out into the allys to sober up and get on with the day (Hien was just getting started as he had a school reunion to get to).
One of the best parts of Hue is that a big chunk of the city is contained within a moat and a wall, while within a second wall is a more restricted area for the emperor and his people. The emperor's area is now a ticketed tourist area and some work is being done to repair damage done by time and bombs. We intended to spend the better part of our first full day in the city looking around the emperor's area so after a leisurely breakfast we set out in the direction of the ticket booth. On our city map there was a chunk of shaded grey blocking a direct path to the citadel but when we got to the T junction indicated on the map we saw that there was actually an ally piercing the grey area. We figured we might save four minutes by not skirting the block of buildings so we headed in (I also really enjoying going through narrow roads). We bounced through the little allyways for a while hitting dead-ends and we finally figured that we weren't going to find a way through. It was just at our last turn around that the home owner saw us coming and in quite good english said "You are going the wrong way. Where are you going?" After a bit of an explanation he gave us some directions to get out of the ally maze. We thanked him and were turning away when all of a sudden, as if externally coming to a conclusion to an internal dialogue, he said "Ok. You come into my house." Since our last experience hanging out with locals had resulted in us chugging rice wine and having a dance party at five in the afternoon we were a little leery to accept the offer. We knew our time in Hue was going to be rushed and we didn't want to miss anything. In the end though our desire to chat with this fellow won over our inhibition and we accepted the offer.
Hien ended up being an employee for a western NGO (hence his English skills) who had done pretty well for himself. He had just built a new house for himself (and his parents) and was keen to show it off to us in a tour around. It really was a neat house, combining many of the nice features of the older Vietnamese homes we had seen as well as some newer construction standards: it was very open to the outside with large windows and patio doors and had a really nice garden while at the same time things could be made wind proof with good quality windows and doors. The highlight of the tour was probably when Hien showed us his lovely kitchen and then opened a door to a narrow sliver of cement with a bowl and a short stool on it. It turns out his mom is not comfortable cooking with the all the new hardware and has set up on an old school kitchen outside for herself.
After the tour we sat down with Hien in his living room. As it was Tet, the coffee table was already set up with snacks and, of course, alcohol and no sooner had we settled in than I was downing shots of whiskey and Meg was shooting red wine. The snacks up for offer were a little strange to us, quite honestly I don't know what they were to even describe them. The one thing that really stuck out though was a really delicious fermented soy product that smelled terrible but tasted a little like blue cheese. Our guest had brought out the soy dish late in the visit and I think it might have been a bit of a test. He was a surprised that we weren't disgusted by it and kept insisting that most Vietnamese people don't even like it. During our visit we also got to meet some other members of the family, parents, children, sisters and brothers and they were all very friendly. We also were able to observe the dad, dressed in his Tet ceremonial finery, performing prayers to the ancestor spirits at the little shrine set up in the house which was interesting to see.
Probably the most surprising thing to happen during the morning was when, out of nowhere, Hien said, "When I married my wife I told her that I gave her the key to my heart... But I had many keys made." He then proceeded to carry the key metaphor forward to describe how he had many keys for homes in the villages he visited for work and that in fact there were many homes that didn't even have keys (I think maybe he was done with metaphors at that point, or maybe we was just commenting on the loose morals of some of the women he knew). It was hard to know where to lead that conversation and the discussion soon turned to his sons video game playing. After about an hour and a half, many failed attempts to say farewell ("Just one more"), and a half dozen shots we headed back out into the allys to sober up and get on with the day (Hien was just getting started as he had a school reunion to get to).
Meg, Me and Hien hanging out on the sofa. No, Hien does not have his hand on my leg, and no I am not smiling because Hien has his hand on my leg.
The rest of the day was a little lower energy after that but still enjoyable. The emperor's compounds were very pretty with alot of nice green space (something the Vietnamese seem quiet good at). It was interesting to see that the same basic building organization was used over and over again with just differences in ornamentation to differentiate the different emperors (or his queen's, or his mom's) compounds.
Meg showing her respect for the emperor's stuff by climbing all over it.
Main Entry to emperor's compound
The next day we were scheduled to do a DMZ (demilitarized zone) tour. Vietnam was split in two along the 17th degree lattitude after the communists won the war against the French and the area was designated as a weapons free zone. During the war with the Americans the land around the DMZ became the site of some pretty famous battles and American bases. These include Khe Sanh, Hamburger Hill, the Rock Pile (more than just a pile of rocks) and Camp Carroll. Apparently, at one point, these would have been household names for the generation watching the news about the Vietnam War. They wouldn't have rung much of a bell to me but I had just finished reading an excellent book about the Vietnam war and many of the sites had been mentioned. Meg and I had not done any tours of war sites or seen much evidence of the war on our travels in Vietnam and were curious to learn more. Even on the tour though it was really hard to get the feel for the war. The sites are pretty quiet, if not completely reclaimed by the jungle, generally with a few Russian or captured U.S. planes, tanks or helicopters as proof of the war. All told it was an interesting tour though with some interesting stories and a few pictures of the sites we were visiting as they would have looked during the war. One of the more interesting sites was north of the DMZ where an entire village succesfully lived underground for several years. The tunnels have been preserved and even have helpful labels like "Family Quarters", for a 3'x6'x4' hole in the tunnel wall or "Maternity Ward", apparently several babies were born underground. Another funny thing on the tour that Meg insists I add in, involved our obligatory visit to a "ethnic minority village". During the lead up to the village our tour guide was helpful enough to tell us a bit about the people we would be seeing. The story she told us was that a doctor had visited the village in order to help them with family planning. The doctor showed a family how to put a condom onto a banana as an example of how it worked. A few months later an obviously pregnant women walks into the doctors office with a condom clad banana in hand and demands to know why this contraceptive technique failed. Ethnic minority people are "very low knowledge" you see. A little thrown off by the un-PC introduction, we were let out on the side of the highway to stare at three small houses and wonder whether the banana crop would be any good this year.
A helicopter at Khe Sanh
A Vietcong, a female guerilla, and a Vietminh soldier. A big statue just south of the DMZ to show the reunification of the Vietnamese people. One of the neat things about Vietnam is how much they hype up their women warriors.
Family quarters underground.
Our last day in Hue we hit the town early as we had to be back for an evening bus at 5. Each of the emperors whose homes we had seen in the city of Hue had spent a bit of his lifetime devoted to building a good temple tomb for when he died. The tombs are scattered around Hue and we spent the day cycling around checking them out. They were beautiful and very extravagant. One of the walled temples was probably about 1km to a side. The temples acted as a holiday spots for the emperors during their lifetimes and most contained little lakes and hills for relaxing as well as halls for governing. It was very relaxing to walk the grounds which I guess is as intended. Aside from a brief stretch during which I insisted that if we were able to get our bikes through a cow field and across a narrow log crossing a stream we would for sure get to the next temple (we wouldn't have, so it's good Meg made us turn around) we made good time and were able to see all of the highest rated temples. It was with content hearts that we got back to Hue in time to set off on the night bus up to Hanoi.
A calm spot for an emperor to contemplate.
Meghan, looking good as she surveys a burial tomb built onto a mountain.
Not even your wide has her hand on your leg! LOLz
ReplyDeleteBut sad for you really!