Central Vietnam

Hoi An, Hue

November 5, 2002

Weather: high of about 80ºF and rainy in the afternoons.


Hue is the ancient capital of Vietnam and has many tombs of emperors.  It is also the place where Vietnam had its millenium celebration.

First a few last photos of Hoi An.  This is a fountain in a Chinese meeting hall in Hoi An.
And here, Julie is filling out the epic forms for mailing a package out of the country from the Hoi An post office.  It took us about 90 minutes to send one small package and 2 letters.  And it cost about $48.
Ahhh, here we are in Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam.  We arrive in town by bus from Hoi An.  This is a picture of a bit of the Citadel that is part of the Purple Palace in the Forbidden City.  I guess that is an indication of the extent of Chinese influence on Vietnamese culture:  they built a copy of the Forbidden City in Beijing.
The Forbidden City in Hue was bombed heavily.  I'm not sure if the French did more damage or the Americans did the most, but both bombed it heavily.  Bits of the Citadel have been rebuilt and they are magnificent.
The Citadel was home to emperors and presidents.  This is a garden used by the emperor to "enjoy the moon and declaim poetry" according to one of the interestingly translated plaques.
The repaired and unrepaired bits of the Citadel make for stark contrasts.
I'm sure if I understood Feng Shui better I'd understand why there is a beautiful wall in front of this doorway.
We tried to sneak up to other tour groups to eavesdrop on their guides, but it didn't work to well.  As a result we, probably didn't get the most historical context out of our visit.
Love those colorful architectural details.




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