Kings, Monks, War, and Tombs

After breakfast (at 8AM), we begin with a trip to the ancient walled Citadel containing the former Imperial Palace. The Citadel was closely modeled along the lines of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Later take a cruise on the Perfume River to see Thien Mu pagoda. In the afternoon, set out on a tour of the Emperor's residence is a trip into the surrounding countryside to see the final resting place of the Emperors by visiting two of the most impressive royal tombs.

The imperial palace is being restored...a lot of building and refurbishing going on, a huge lot of buildings gone, and some of the original buildings still standing. In front is a moat and a three tiered structure. It was here that for 23 or so days the Viet Cong and Regular Vietnam army fought against each other for the right to raise their own flag (the communist flag flies uncontested today). The Viet Cong occupied this imperial Palace and apparently the Americans were reluctant to bomb because of the destruction it would cause to historical structures (apparently our government used to care about things like that). Finally, it was decided there was no other way to remove the Viet Cong and the bombs dropped. Even today the large stone walls contain bullet chips and holes, and in some places shrapnel remains embedded. We entered a room in which the Emperor abdicated in favor of the French in 1945. From then on, the Emperor was only a French puppet and did little to help his people who wanted to be free of French rule and live in an independent Vietnam. The Imperial grounds are enormous covering hundreds of acres. It is hard to imagine the labor and resources it took to construct this place...let alone maintain it. The Imperial Capitol was moved from the Hanoi area to Hue in the early 1800's. The reason was an auspicious building site (water in the form of a river, and several mountains) and the desire to place the Capital more nearly at the center of the country. Only the first four kings opposed foreign rule and worked for the people. The rest know towed to foreign influences and did very little for the people.

We went on to Thien Mu pagoda from the Imperial Palace. This is not truly a pagoda, but a stupa that hold the remains of holy people. It is also a monestary. We were fortunate enough to be there when two women and a child were receiving blessings. All of the monks (1 doing the main part of the blessing, two drumming and chanting, and one chanting and striking a large, brass bell/bowl) were dressed in saffron robes. The temple was very beautiful and peaceful, and we made a video and voice recording of the ceremony. We walked around the grounds as our guide told us a bit of the history of the place. "I have a surprise for you," he said and led us to a building that housed an old and rusting Mercedes. "What do you think this is?" he asked. Thinking a car in a monastery was odd we were silent. "This is the car belonging to the Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc. On June 11, 1963 he drove from this monastery to Saigon. Once in the city, he got out of his car, sat in the street in the lotus position, and his assistant poured gasoline over him, and lit him on fire. The protest was against the Diem regime's discrimination against and prosecution of Buddhist monks. This was the man who made headlines in the US news and was seen on televisions around the world. And here we were standing before his car. It was overwhelming. A while later I asked our guide if Vietnamese people still knew of Thich Nhat Hahn. Because I pronounced the name so badly, it took a minute for Quoc, our guide, to know who I was asking about. Then, "Oh Yes! He has come back to Vietnam many times. After the war he returned to Hue to hold a very large ceremony to honor the dead soldiers of both the Viet Cong and regular Vietnamese army. I liked the story as I knew that Thich Nhat Hahn had been part of the Vietnamese delegation to the Paris Peace talks...representing the hope of peace and bringing his country together. Later, because he refused to acknowledge the communist government and condemn others, he was banished from his homeland.


After those visits, we had a cruise on the river, lunch, and visits to two tombs of former kings. Before viviting the second tomb, we made a stop at a street vendor who was making joss (incense) sticks and traditional hats. Pam was invited to try her hand at making a joss stick from the fragrant cinnamon paste. It was pretty funny and we all had a good laugh. We also made amends bt buying several packs of joss sticks. Now we are resting at home...Pam is having a massage, and I am writing.

Traditional junk, HaLong Bay


Our junk...the govt mandated that all tourist boats be painted white...kind of loses the magic, we think.



Four years old. His Grandpa is the village leader and because Gpa was talking to us, this guy just unmoored the family boat and rowed across to see what was happening.



Our room at this beautiful Pilgrimage Inn in Hue




Bullet holes and shrapnel in wall of Imperial Palace


Pam making a joss stick. Oh, No!!!



The car of The Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc




Gates at one of the Imperial Tombs



Royal Unicorn



Looking through another gate



Confucian tomb guardian



Soldier guardian



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Location:Hue