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Published: March 3rd 2006
Now here I am in Hué!
Flying here was definitely the right decision (yes Boris, you where right!)- sparing me more than one day in a bus. One thing I didn’t appreciate though was the fact that I had about 4 babies sitting in my immediate vicinity- nothing’s wrong with babies, don’t get me wrong please! And I usually don’t have a problem when a baby cries- but when 4 (in one word: FOUR!!!) babies raise their high pitched voices to max noise level- that’s the point where I start to get a little unnerved.
But apart from that everything went good on the flight- just one minor incident happened on our final approach into Hué. When all of a sudden I heard a weird and strange, yet familiar sound- the lady sitting behind me had her mobile on and didn’t bother not to answer! Must have been really important!!! And as those of you who know me well enough can imagine- I really do stay calm in situations like this!
Getting off the aircraft held another surprise for me (gee- the day was getting better by the minute…) we had temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius and a
nice little drizzle. Coming from 30++ degrees and sunshine in Saigon- this really made a difference. Well, got a hotel, some food and a good night’s sleep- hoping the best for the next day.
On Wednesday morning I got ready to see the town, especially the citadel which lies on the north bank of the well known Perfume River. The weather hadn’t changed much- so I simply got the proper clothes out and prepared for the worse- at least it stopped drizzling after an hour or so.
Hué has once been the capital of Vietnam- when it was ruled by the emperors of the Nguyen dynasty (1802- 1945). And no one is a real emperor if you don’t have a proper citadel (or something comparable) to show off with. The main enclosure has got a perimeter of about 10km and contains the imperial enclosure which still is a 2,5km walk around.
I went to see the imperial enclosure- unfortunately the citadel suffered major damage during the Tet offensive in the American war in 1968. So lots of the former grandeur does not exist anymore- one can still see minor and bigger holes in the wall.
But
even the Vietnamese discovered its magnificence (and the possibility to make a few dollars…) so they are making quite an effort to rebuild the site. And personally speaking- on the parts already finished they did a good job.
Really feels like you are being set back a couple of hundred years when you walk thru the old wooden buildings, gardens etc.
Within the imperial enclosure was another part- the forbidden purple city! Only the emperor and eunuchs where allowed to enter- as all the wives and concubines where within this part of the citadel- it’s said that some emperors called 150+++ wives their own- YES!!! Speaking of these good news- one can see only very few remainders of the purple city. Most of it has vanished during the war or a typhoon in 1980.
It takes about 2-3 hours to wander around and see all the houses, pagodas, artificial lakes etc. after that I had lunch and went to see some 4 pagodas which also where situated on the north shore of the Perfume River- which lazily makes its way thru the town.
All in all a nice day- lots of history and walking but well worth a visit!
Next day I got up at 0520 (oh my god- I thought one usually explodes if you get up before 0700…).
Why is that you may ask- and rightly so!
I had booked a tour to see the DMZ.
Now some of you may ask: what on earth is a DMZ? To enlighten you a little- it’s a Demilitarized Zone. It’s situated about 80km north of Hué and has been established in 1954 when the French lost a major battle at Dien Bien Phu (have the French ever won a war?).
It was established to divide north (Communism) and south (Democracy- well at least they pretended and called it democracy- the president Diem was assassinated by his own soldiers…) for no more than two years.
We went to see the Ho Chi Minh trail- which North Vietnamese used to supply their troops in the south. Guns and all other supplies where carried by bike or on the shoulders- quite a tough task considering you are walking in the jungle, rain or sun and may be shot at.
Also we saw Khe San Combat Base- basically you can call it the Dien Bien Phu of
the Americans. A fierce battle that lasted over 4 month took place here and cost many lives on both sides. I didn’t really know what to expect when we where on our way (maybe something like this: driving in our jeep- mortars going off all around us- we see the surrounding mountains being attacked by low flying U.S. aircraft which are deploying napalm and phosphorus shells.
As soon as we arrive we are being given a helmet and a gun and the old staff sergeant points out various locations where we are being scattered at to help the GI’s. He doesn’t talk since the machine guns from the GI’s and the incoming rounds and mortar shells which explode to close to my liking make a little too much noise. As I enter the bunker I’ve been assigned to the lieutenant ask if I can handle an aircraft- not one minute later he sends me out with the words: Fly flyboy and get the wounded out of here and don’t forget to bring some new guys in here! As I am running to the aircraft a mortar shell hits the tail and renders it unusable… all fiction of course. But maybe not 35 years ago!)
But I did expect a little more than what I found in the end. A small museum with a couple of pictures, 2 or 3 US bunker copies and an old UH-1 is all that can be seen.
We continued our way to see the Vinh Moc tunnel system which lies on the northern side of the Ben Hai river which was the demarcation line.
Now this was very impressing, and quite an eye opener. The system is some 3km long in total and connects several villages’ right on the shore of the South China Sea.
These villages supported the North Vietnamese army and for that they where bombed heavily. They dug as deep as 23m in the ground and basically stayed down there for 4 years!!! They had a hospital, (17 babies where born down there!) a meeting and teaching room and not a lot of space and even less light down under ground.
I walked in as last and let myself fall back a bit to get a slight idea of what it may be like- let me tell you this- if you are claustrophobic or you are afraid of the dark this is not the place to be for you! It’s sticky and moist and if someone comes your way you better start organizing who is making way. What an experience!!!
Today I got up at a reasonable hour- I went for a walk to see some of the tombs of the Nguyen emperors.
Tombs my ass! What they call a tomb is basically a miniature of the purple city in the citadel. So if you want to get an idea of what it looked like- go and see the tomb of the emperor Tu Duc. He not only had this on his site but also an artificial lake with an island, a tomb for his 1. Wife, a pagoda for some of his minor (!!!) wives, and plenty of other stuff that was all set in a beautiful pine forest. Personally I think it’s worth a visit.
I also went to see 2 more tombs but these where not quite as extraordinary but still made a good impression. Also I enjoyed the walk thru the countryside off the beaten track and the rustle the leaves in the bamboo forest make when the wind picked up a little.
When I came back into town I went for a quick lunch in my favourite restaurant.
2 portions of special fried noodles and 2 Pepsi please. Special fried noodles?
I think they deep fry ‘em after cooking which makes them very crispy- put some cooked white cabbage, tomatoes and carrots on top and don’t forget the chilli sauce- hmmm, yummy!
Sounds weird? Tastes great!
After rejuvenating myself I walked to the Thien Mu pagoda.
This site, some 6km west of Hué, is one of the pagodas where the antigovernment protests started in the early 1960’s.
It is actually quite a nice site with a good view over the Perfume River and nice buildings.
It houses an old blue car- this car was used by one of the monks to drive to Saigon and after arriving self- immolated him in protest to the Diem government.
Unfortunately I forgot to take my “Please talk to me!” hat off in the morning. So I ended up with 3 guys talking to me and after a couple of minutes wanting to introduce their daughters to me. Very politely I told them off- had a good laugh though.
During the last two days the weather got a little better- no more rain and temps rising so I am looking forward to Hanoi! Where I will be heading tomorrow night (Yes, another 12 hours bus ride! Orsm- Not!).
Its time to move on- have a good one!
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MAT
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Happy Birthday oder Chuc Mung Sinh Nhat!
Moin german sausage. Ich wünsch dir auf diesem Wege alles Gute zum Geburtstag, weil ich grad keine Zeit finde die lange Vorwahl bis Vietnam zu wählen. Also lass dich feiern und immer fein mitlächeln... MAT