Feb 4th – Hue City Tour

Feb 4^th – Hue City Tour

Quy picked us up at 8.30am and we had a very short walk just up the road to catch our boat for a 30 minute trip down the Perfume river to the seven storey Thien Mu Pagoda.  The set up was similar to that of the cave boats, so we were probably their only chance of making some extra money that week.  They had a little shop on board  and they did their best to persuade Kim to buy some silk pyjamas, which were obviously not the real thing.  As we wanted to buy something from them, we ended up buying yet more of the very pretty 3D cards.

Dragon head on the boat

Thien Mu (or Elderly Goddess) Pagoda was built in 1601.  The 1^st thing you see is the Happiness and Grace Tower which has 7 tiers; each storey containing an altar to a different Buddha.  Arranged around the tower are 4 buildings, one of which contains the Great Bell weighing 2200kg and cast in 1710.  Beyond the tower, the entrance to the Pagoda is through a triple gateway patrolled by 6 vividly painted guardians.  The 1^st monk to commit suicide through self immolation came from this monastery and the Austin car in which he made his final journey to Saigon in 1963 can be seen here.  There was also a big collection of Bonsai trees of various sizes which were very lovely.

The good self

We then drove for 30 minutes to the tomb of Emperor Minh Mang, considered by many to be the finest of the Imperial tombs.  Built between 1840 and 1843, it is set in 7 hectares of peaceful  gardens and ponds.  At this time of year, there’s no doubt that the extra flowers due to Tet add to the ambiance.   There is a single central and sacred axis which draws you seamlessly from one element to another.  We started off in a ceremonial courtyard containing an array of statuary and then moved on the stela pavilion.  We then continued downwards through a series of courtyards visiting the Sung An temple dedicated to the memory of the Emperor and his wife, and finally looked out over 2 sets of stone bridges.  The 1^st consists of 3 spans, with the central one being for the sole use of the Emperor. 

The 2^nd single bridge leads to a short flight of stairs with naga balustrades , at the end of which is a locked bronze door leading to the tomb itself which is surrounded by a brick wall.  No-one is quite sure where the Emperor is buried within the wall as apparently anyone involved with his burial was murdered so they couldn’t reveal the exact burial place – this is to protect the tomb from robbers.  Personally, I found it hard to believe that in this day and age that modern technology wouldn’t have found the tomb, but our guide insisted the exact location was still unknown.

We then drove back into town and had lunch at Little Italy opened since 2002 and yes, Kim did have pasta!! And Chris had a noodle soup that he regretted later!?

Next stop was The Citadel which covers an area of 520 hectares.  Its walls are 21 metres thick, nearly 7 metres high and 10000 metres in circumference with 10 entrances topped by watch towers.  Inside the Citadel, the Great Enclosure contains the Imperial City and the Forbidden City.

The Imperial City is built on the same principles as the Forbidden Palace in Beijing and is enclosed by thick outer walls.  It covers 6 square kilometres  - sufficient to house the Emperor and all his entourage.  We entered the Imperial City through the Ngo Mon (Royal) Gate, which is surmounted by a pavilion from which the Emperor could view palace ceremonies.  The gate has been restored by UNESCO and apparently looks very garish in the sunlight, but in the drizzle, the impact of the restoration was lost on us.  North of the gate is the Golden Water Bridge which leads to the Great Rites Courtyard on the north side of which is the Palace of Supreme Harmony used  for Gia Long’s coronation in 1806.

North of the Palace of Supreme Harmony is the Purple Forbidden City, pretty much bombed to oblivion in the 1968 Tet offensive.  Most of the surviving buildings of interest are to be found on the west side of the palace and include the Temple of Generations and Hien Lam Cac, a pavilion built in 1821 in front of which stand 9 massive bronze urns.  As we slowly made our way towards the exit through various decaying gateways, we admired the once brightly coloured plasterwork which adorns them and  is so desperately in need of some maintenance.

Our last port of call for the day was a local produce market close to our hotel.  It was heaving with people and motorbikes coming at you from every direction, but we enjoyed the experience.  Certainly, all the produce looked incredibly fresh and we saw fruit and vegetables that we’d never come across before and probably never will do again!