We took an hour and half bus ride from the Port of Chan May to the last imperial capital of Viet Nam, Hue. Upon arriving in Hue, we boarded a ‘dragon boat’ for a cruise up the ‘Perfume River’ (Song Huong), so called because during the imperial era the waters were perfumed with attars and essences.
After a short ride up the river, we disembarked at the Thien Mu Pagoda, the ‘Celestial Lady’, Viet Nan’s most revered shrine. We were immediately informed that a ‘pagoda’ is not a building but a compound made up of temples, shrines, living quarters and other buildings used by the resident Buddhist monks. The first building seen from the river is a tower (stupa) but after climbing the river path, we saw a temple, an ornamental pond and several other buildings in the compound. In the sixties this pagoda was a hot bed of anti-South Vietnamese government activities. The monk who set himself on fire that was captured in the famous photo, the Venerable Thich Quang Duc, came from this pagoda. They keep the Aston Martin that he drove to his self immolation as a relic. Our guide tells us that only a small percentage of Vietnamese are Buddhist but it is the number one religion in Viet Nam.
The next stop is was Imperial Citadel which was built between 1804 and 1835 by Gia Long, the first emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty. The citadel is a walled city with a ‘public’ palace used for governmental business and two private palaces, one for the Emperor and one for the Empress and the Emperor’s concubines. The Emperor’s and Empress’ palaces were within a walled city within the walled city, this was known as the Forbidden Purple City which was for the Use of the Emperor and his family only. Other buildings within the Imperial City included the Flag Tower and the Imperial Library as temples and quarters for other members of the Imperial family. The Imperial City was the site of intense fighting during the Tet Offensive and many of the buildings were damaged or destroyed. Restoration is currently in progress.
After visiting the Imperial City, we had a very nice lunch then we stopped at a workshop where they were making incense and conical hats.
Then we went to the Mausoleum of Tu Duc, the second Nguyen Emperor and the longest ruling of the Dynasty. This was a huge mausoleum which consisted of a series of temple structures built along side a lake. You had to climb a couple of flights of very tall steps to the top of each temple and down again to tackle the next. After the third temple you cross a bridge and climb two more flights to reach the actual mausoleum but that’s it you cannot enter. This was quite impressive but in 90 degree heat and 90 percent humidity it was also quite enervating.
Our final stop was the Dong Ba Market, the largest and oldest market in Hue. Then we headed back to the QV.
And a couple of pictures from our balcony as the QV prepared to leave Chan May …
