Virus Catches Up and We Catch Glimpses of Imperial Vietnam

Having survived my birthday, the trip continued.  We were leaving Hoi An this morning, so we left our bags (which had grown by one, thanks to our purchases to date) in the hallway to be picked up.  Gray weather had returned, but at least it was not raining. We were driving north today, back through Da Nang, headed to the former capital and seat of the royal family, Hue (pronounced “Way”).

When we first left Washington, we waited for our flight in the Turkish Airlines lounge.  We ate a light supper, and while eating, we realized we had sick people sitting on either side of us.  After a few minutes, we decided to move – at the risk of being rude – as it was obvious both of these folks were actively sick.  Then, on our first full day of touring, on the bus to Cu Chi, I noticed that the man sitting next to me was also dealing with a head cold, and he spoke about the medication he was on.  I bring this up, as on this morning I woke up with a cold.  I felt fine when I went to bed, but when I woke up, I knew I had something.  I was happy we had a “bus day,” as I especially didn’t want to fly feeling the way I felt.  I tried to sleep as much as I could on the bus, but we kept making stops, so it was not ideal.

Our first stop was at the foot of Marble Mountain, at one of the many giant stone carving factories which lined the highway.  It was quite a sight to see hundreds, if not thousands, of large hand-carved marble statues destined for yards and homes around the world.  This was ostensibly a “happy room” break, but the very large showroom, full of “portable” statues and jewelry proved quite popular with many folks in our group.  We then made the short drive down to the oceanfront, and got out at a promenade along what had been called “China Beach” or “R&R Beach” when the now-defunct U.S. Airbase across the street was active during the war.  The Vietnamese Army now controls the base and they use it to store hazardous chemicals, including – allegedly – remaining stockpiles of Agent Orange.  I personally question that assertion, particularly as I know that the U.S. has been funding reparations of sorts for years via USAID for environmental cleanup and to help care for the generations of Vietnamese still affected by the toxins.  Well, I guess I should emphasize that we USED to pay for that, but that program was among those cut with the cessation of USAID and its associated funding by the Trump administration.

Statue, Anyone?!

China Beach in Da Nang

Da Nang

Dragon Bridge in Da Nang (Fire Shoots from the Mouth at Night)

I admitted slept for a long while, and evidently missed traveling past the former U.S. Navy base, as well as passing through a six-mile-long tunnel built to ease travel between northern and southern Vietnam.  After another obligatory happy-room break, we approached the former Imperial capital of Hue, and I’m happy to report that the sun was now out in force.  I still didn’t feel great, but I did get some sleep.  I wrote earlier than the population of Vietnam exceeds 100 million.  We started our trip in HCMC, which has 9 million inhabitants.  Hoi An was a welcome change, at 32,000 people.  It was obvious, though as we approached Hue, that it was a substantial city.  We asked Tony about its size, and he said it was a “smally city of 1 million people.”  Not so small.  Well, since our next stop was Hanoi with just under 9 million of its own people, I guess Tony could be excused for calling Hue small.

At a "Happy Room" Break on Way to Hue

Harvesting Mussels From Bicycle Tires

It was a nice-looking city, though of course it shared a somewhat modulated level of extreme traffic.  We were dropped off close to our hotel and given time to get lunch on our own.  Tony brought us to a central location which had two restaurants on his approved list, so we had the choice of Vietnamese of Western.  I was a bit tired of Asian food already, or at least wanted a break, so I voted for Western.  Ironically, when we saw the restaurant, it was billed as a “Vietnamese and Mexican restaurant.”  It was actually a rather funky restaurant, and the weather was quite nice, all of the windows had been removed and there was a pleasant breeze running through the place.  K had a Vietnamese version of tacos, which reportedly tasted better than it looked, and I opted for a hamburger, which will “unique,” was also satisfying. 

Our Mexican Lunch in Hue

After lunch, we all met back up with the bus, and we drove back over the river to the imperial citadel.  I am embarrassed to say but I had no idea that Vietnam ever had an emperor or imperial family, let alone one that survived until 1945.  Hue became the capital of a unified Vietnam in 1802, though the line of royal dynasties stretches back more than 1,000 years.  Hue was not only the political but also the cultural and religious center of Vietnam under the Nguyen dynasty until 1945.  Nguyen is the name of the final royal line, and that name should be familiar to anyone who knows someone Vietnamese.  It is the most popular surname for those in Vietnam and the considerable number of people who left as “boat people” in the 1970’s.  More than 40 percent of the current population share this name, to include our guide, Tony.  The citadel complex, which is massive, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and – though I haven’t been there yet to compare – looks a lot like the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Given the size of the complex, it would have been safe to assume there would be a huge parking lot for tour buses.  You would be wrong.  The lot was very small, with most buses double parked.  It was something to watch our driver attempt to pull in, which launched an impromptu influx of fellow drivers, who circled the bus and tried to collectively help our driver find somewhere to drop us off.  I’m sure this was followed by an even more elaborate process of helping him park, but we missed that.  The sun was out and it was in the high 70’s/low 80’s as we started the walk through the series of walls surrounding the complex.  I was struck at the scale and many points during the visit.  It was built starting back in 1802, but did suffer heavy damage during the Tet Offensive in 1968.  Hue sits just below the 17^th parallel, which divided North and South Vietnam.  During the Tet Offensive, North Vietnamese soldiers overran the city, with more than 80 percent of Hue’s buildings destroyed.  The city changed hands several times, before the South Vietnamese ultimately prevailed, but more than 5,000 people were killed, to include 2,000 who were summarily executed by the Viet Cong for alleged collusion with the South Vietnamese and Americans.  That bit of the history was left out of the tour narration, but we did see where parts of the complex itself had been destroyed and rebuilt.  Inside the so-called “Purple Forbidden City” – the inner-most sanctum – we saw where the emperor and his family (to include huge contingents of both concubines and eunuchs) lived.  It was all very well maintained, most of which I attributed to its designation as a UNESCO site.

Entering the Outer Walls of Hue's Walled Imperial Citadel

Throne Room for Vietnamese Royalty

Locals Would Rent Such Elaborate Period Costumes for Their Visits

Emperor's Private Residence in Hue

It had clouded over and we felt a few sprinkles as we regathered, exiting the citadel through a rear gate, where we met our bus.  It was mid-afternoon by now and traffic was picking up as we made our way back over the Perfume River and to our hotel for the next two nights.  Our hotel was very nice; a 17-story hotel with A LOT of marble.  In fact, it seemed like every surface – both inside and outside – was covered in the stone.  Tony gave us repeated warnings about how slick the hotel room floors would be, particularly in the bathroom, encouraging us to use the any of the multiple set of slippers positioned all around the very large rooms.  This was a our largest, and probably nicest hotel room of the trip (Ha Long might win out, based on view), and given how I felt, I was very happy to be where we were.  I should have mentioned, earlier too, that four of our five hotel rooms on this trip had a very unique (at least to Americans) design feature.  The wall between the bathroom and the sleeping portion of the roof had a huge window, so you could see everything going on in the bathroom and shower from anywhere in the room.  Each of these bathrooms did, however, have a shade or curtain in the shower, which would cover the window, but it did not block all the light.  Whatever the motivation for such a design, we both hated it, and almost had to laugh.  This particular hotel in Hue, too, had another added unique design touch to its bathroom.  Namely, the shower and toilet were together behind a second glass wall.  Again, I have no idea why you would combine these two, but someone at some point probably thought it was cosmopolitan chic, or something.  Regardless, we can both attest to how slippery the marble floors were, and we took extra precautions to be safe.

There was an optional activity this evening, for which most of our group signed up.  It was billed as a “Cyclo Ride with Dinner at the Citadel.”  I was tired, but I did not want to miss this.  We were the last to arrive outside, in front of the hotel, where there was a very long line of cyclos waiting for us.  Having learned our lesson from the cyclo ride in HCMC, we accepted the offered face masks and soon we were off.  Traffic was heavy, but nothing like HCMC.  We were such a large contingent of cyclos that it made for interesting viewing.  Others didn’t seem to notice us, but I thought we looked rather ridiculous.  Still, it was fun.  I enjoyed watching how the drivers worked together to help merge our big group into traffic, such as to prepare us for a left turn.  They had obviously done this many times before.  We crossed back over the bridge and entered the citadel grounds, as we had on foot earlier in the day.  The parks surrounding the palace were now filled with families enjoying the warm and early evening fading sun.  We took a circuitous route around the palace grounds, going in and out of the several layers of gates, and then going through some neighborhoods, before completing a circle, ending up pretty much behind the “forbidden” part of the palace, but just outside the gates. 

Our unloaded outside a walled private home, which looked more Japanese than Vietnamese.  It was the home of a senior aide to the last three emperors, and now serves as a small museum.  They have a separate building where meals are served.  We had the place to ourselves, and after a short museum tour, we tucked in to another multi-course meal served family style.  Everything was very tasty, and were still encountering many new dishes, rather than the same things over and over.

As it was now well past dark, our ride back to the hotel was via bus vice cyclo, which was fine, as I was fading fast.  I was in bed before and had fallen asleep before the lights were out.