Vietnam
Vietnam
Part 8: Hue
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Vietnam
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Part 8: Hue |
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Hue skyline dominated by the flag pole at the Citadel |
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11th November In the Train to Hue, I got a lower bunk in a six-bunk sleeper cabin. It was really cramped; particularly head spaces are so low that, though I got a lower bunk it was impossible to sit upright. Next to me, on the other lower bunk there was a Canadian women, on the next level were two Vietnamese girls and on the top level there were two Vietnamese men. The cabin floor and the upper bunks were packed with luggage, mostly belonging to the four Vietnamese passengers. Hardly there was any environment for striking a conversation in that cramped compartment,where we could not even sit upright – I walked around the corridors, went to the buffet car and then when I felt sleepy, I literally dived into my bunk. The train arrived at Hue around 8:30 pm. I had no hotel booking, but no problem – the station parking lot was full of hotel buses and hotel agents competing for tourists. I chose Thai Binh Hotel 3. This is a common phenomena in most Vietnamese cities, with tourism booming in Vietnam, successful hotel owners have rapidly expanded their business by establishing multiple hotels, and instead of giving each new hotel a new name, they tend to keep the name of their first/original hotel with a new serial number – trying to establish a brand name for their hotels. Anyway, I got an excellent air-conditioned suit at the top floor of Thai Binh Hotel 3, with a separate sitting room, a balcony overlooking Hue, and with personal internet connection and a PC – all for just US$25/day! From my hotel balcony Hue looked exotically beautiful and serene. It is a medium sized city with a population of 300,000 people, dissected by the Perfume River - the old imperial city within the citadel is on the north bank and the new part of the city dominated by French colonial style buildings is located on the South Bank. Most modern facilities; the railway station, hotels (including my hotel) restaurants, banks, businesses and the Government offices are located on the South bank. From 1802 till 1945 Hue was the imperial capital of Vietnam – ruled by Nguyen dynasty, the last Vietnamese imperial dynasty. In the later part of Nguyen dynasty’s rule, they were merely nominal rulers as a puppet of the French colonialists, while most of the country gradually became a French colony – French called it Cochin China. Now, Hue’s main attractions are imperial tombs scattered around Hue and the remains of the citadel, whose huge flag tower still dominate the city. Hue is located about 100km South of the 17th parallel and the demilitarised zone that used to demarcate the border between the South and the North Vietnam. During the war, in the 1968 Tet-offensive, the North Vietnamese army and South Vietnamese Viet-Cong guerillas occupied and Hue and held it for 3½ weeks. After the South Vietnamese army failed to dislodge them and the Americans joined them. Eventually under heavy American air attack and ground assaults the North Vietnamese were forced to retreat from Hue. In the process part of the imperial city was destroyed and thousands got killed, mostly civilians. After breakfast and a little rest I set out to explore the old imperial city inside the citadel - I walked along the embankment of the Perfume River towards the Phu Xuan Bridge – It’s a lovely river, but it was suffocatingly hot, humid and still, even near the river – couple of Cyclos were pursuing me as I walked towards the bridge – eventually I gave in and hired one of them (US$3/hr) to take me around the citadel and the imperial city. The Citadel has a 10km perimeter – ramparts were originally made of earth, which was later covered with a layer of bricks 2m thick in the style of the French military architect Vauban. The three sides of the citadel are straight; the fourth, the Northern side is slightly rounded to follow the curve of the Perfume River. The ramparts are encircled by a 30m wide moat. The Citadel has 10 fortified gates, each reached by a bridge across the moat. My cyclo entered the Citadel through a Northern gate next to the massive flag tower, Vietnam’s tallest flagpole. Just inside there were nine ceremonial holy cannons – four on the East side of the Flag Tower and five on the West side. The holy cannons were the symbolic protectors of the palace and the kingdom. While the four cannons on the Eastern side represented the four season the other five on the Western side represent the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. From that point at the entry, my cyclo turned east and we circled the inside of the citadel. Due to the wide spread destruction caused by the fighting during the 1968 Tet-offensive, wide areas within the citadel are now used for agriculture. There are numerous pagodas, few museums, in many parts locals living in small settlements clusters, few tourist hotels and restaurants in those settlements. I even bumped into a Vietnamese wedding party and had the opportunity to take photos of the bride and groom waving back to me. We circled the citadel and finally stopped at the most interesting part of it – the Imperial Enclosure, facing the flag tower. The Imperial enclosure is a rectangular fort within a fort with 6m high walls and a moat protecting the 2.5km perimeter of the enclosure. It has four gates on each side – the Ngo Mon gate on the Southern side facing the flag tower is the most important gate – the central gate with its yellow doors used to be reserved for the emperor. On top of the gate is Ngu Phung, where the emperors used to appear on important occasions. On 30 August 1945, the last Emperor of Vietnam, Emperor Bao Dai appeared here and ended the reign of Nguyen dynasty when he abdicated to a delegation sent by Ho Chi Minh’s Provisional Revolutionary Government established in Hanoi as soon as the Japanese surrendered. The yellow doors are now permanently closed, so like any other ordinary mortals I entered through a side gate. Just inside the gate, across a small paved square there is a lotus pond and a bridge over it leading to a large paved square facing the Thai Hoa Palace (Palace of Supreme Harmony). The bridge over the lotus pond was also for exclusive use by the emperors. Now days it is open to all, I crossed the bridge headed for the Thai Hoa Palace. Although its called palace – it is actually a large hall with ornate timber roof supported by 80 wooden curved and lacquered columns. This is where the emperors used to hold their formal court to conduct imperial business sitting on his elevated throne. No photography is allowed inside this the Thai Hoa Palace. However, except for woodworks, it is rather simple as an imperial court. Behind the palace on both side of a courtyard are the two halls of mandarins, where mandarins used to make all preparations for the court held in the Thai Hoa Palace. In the courtyard there are two giant cauldrons. Behind the back courtyard of the Thai Hoa Palace, across an open space, there used to be the Forbidden Purple City – the palace for the emperor’s concubines. The Purple Palace was completely destroyed during the 1968’s Tet-offensive. In one corner there is a much-decorated Imperial Theatre. I walked around the imperial enclosure for about two hour – in spite of shady trees the heat and humidity made me tired – I headed back for the hotel. I Spent the elate afternoon and evening exploring the main city on the South bank – Tomorrow I will go on a daylong trip along the demilitarised zone, where the most savage fighting of the Vietnam War took place 30 or so years ago.
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E-mail: nirbodh@gmail.com
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