Tết 2018 (Part 4): Huế city

Part 1 of tết 2018 can be read here

Part 2 of tết 2018 can be read here

Part 3 of tết 2018 can be read here

16-Feb-2018

If ever there was a day that didn’t need a hangover on the holiday, this was it: with a bus leaving at 8 and a full day of taking in information ahead, it may have been wiser to do this trip the following day, but I didn’t know just how much fun the New Year was going to be the previous night. I had 3 hours of sleep and a shower, so at least I wasn’t going to be a smelly guy on the bus getting stared at. Breakfast was fairly quick, with rice, plenty of water and watermelon to keep me going. I even snuck some watermelon segments into a tissue for eating on the bus to Hue.

The drive to Huế was longer than expected, but that did mean I could get some extra naptime on the bus while the other tourists answered questions to the overly enthusiastic guide. Despite the energy he had, it was fast becoming clear that he didn’t want to be there. since this was the equivalent of Christmas day for the Vietnamese. I hope he spent time with family after the tour, but I did feel guilty afterwards.

The bus drove under mountain tunnels, rice fields, coastal roads and then into the city itself. It seemed as small as Hội An at times as the bus entered, but after a while it became clear there is more to Huế than Hội An, at least in terms of size. For one, the imperial palace was HUGE! The bus circled the palace before settling down, and it took a while to do so. Its probably a good thing that we were going to start with such a grand complex as it was the main attraction.

Comparisons to Bejing’s Forbidden city are common with the imperial city, both being large square complexes of oriental buildings surrounded by a moat and with a real feeling of ancient royalty, emperors and opulence. However, the key differences were apparent at a glance and more obvious the further into the palace you went; Beijing’s has a clear red colour palette and an immaculate, untouched appearance, ready to have as many visitors and guests as possible. Hue’s meanwhile has had a rough time with the Tet offensive; colours can feel washed out, some walls are entirely missing, and bullet holes riddled some of the palace floors. This was very much a frequently visited city that has seen many stories and tells them with what you find as you walk around. That is not to say its all damaged goods. There were still plenty of beautiful structures and rituals happening around the palace grounds. Some singing buddha bells and altars were all around and the lanterns were hanging around the structures.

All in, it was a truly impressive complex and was well worth the tour trip alone. Its just a shame that anything that tried to follow this wasn’t going to be easy. Still, there was a temple and a tomb to visit, so at least they are different flavours of the city.

Next on the trip was to Thien Mu Pagoda. Despite having an impressive 7 floor tower and the infamous car that a Buddhist monk drove to Saigon’s busiest junction before self immolating, it felt like many other medium sized temples. That said, the gardens were lovely, and overlooking the Perfume River made for a great photo opportunity. It made for a good mini trip inbetween the palace and the tomb. It just felt smaller in importance following the Imperial palace. Overall, a good snack of a visit, one of those places thats worth visiting while we were in the area.

Lunch was served in the city, and it was a selection of rice noodles, a spicy broth and a really enjoyable pork meat. The seasoning made it taste like a satay dish mixed with lemongrass flavour. It was all very tasty, though I never got a definitive name for the meal, but if I had to take a guess it would be Nem Lui Hue. Surprisingly we weren’t served Bún bò Huế, a dish most often associated with the city. Perhaps they wanted to show other dishes this time around. After some refreshing tea, we headed to our last main temple.

After a slightly longer drive, the bus stopped at the tomb of Khải Định. At first glance, it was large, imposing, rather monotone in its grey-scale look, and quite a hike to get to the top. It looked very impressive from the bottom, but as you climb the 127 steps you notice that something is up with the emperors tomb…

For all the elaborate decorations, stone warriors and decorated pavilion, it was actually built in 1920 and finished in 1931. Some buildings in my hometown are older than that! The emperor also turned out to be unpopular, being more of a puppet leader while the French were around, and raised taxes in order to build this mausoleum. And here I was thinking Brian Cowen was bad!

But in the end, it is still an impressive structure. The tomb interior especially has plenty of vibrant colour, and the two obelisk pillars make an impression as you make your way up the stairs. It was enjoyable to hear the negative history while adoring what was around. It would make an ideal Mortal Kombat arena.

After waiting around for some tourists committing the cardinal sin of wearing white socks on sandals, we headed back to Đà Nẵng. The hottest part of the day was over, we were given crackers and water as refreshments, and just took in the palm trees and coastal views as the bus drove back. I was thinking of the rest I could have back at the hotel, and maybe get a bag of crisps to keep me going before knocking out, but I was glad to have taken a day trip to Huế. Well worth seeing again for a proper weekend stay.