A Kansan in Nam: Hues of Hue

Kat and I headed down to Hue (pronounced "way") from hectic Hanoi. It was certainly rainier and cooler than Hanoi, but the moisture lent a romantic, mystical hue to the city, the former capital of Vietnam. The trip seemed to start out a little rocky--our hotel forgot to pick us up at the airport--but we got ourselves into town and were greeted by a clean, friendly hotel and their (apologetic) staff.

Kat and I promptly headed out into the rain to see the Imperial City, part of the Citadel.

Entrance gate to the Imperial City

Hall of Supreme Harmony

lacquered walkways

beautiful colors

the moat surrounding the Citadel

Having soaked ourselves thoroughly, we headed to the DMZ Bar for some darn good burgers and fries. We headed back to our hostel, hung up our jeans to dry, and headed to bed.

We woke up the next morning with our jeans just as damp as the night before. The iron I used to try to flash dry the jeans worked a bit and improved our situation slightly. Thankfully we were going to spend the day exploring tombs and pagodas in a private car--our friend Max in Dong Ha (next stop on our journey) had a driver dropping off a donor at the Hue airport. So we paid a little extra to have our own personal tour with the car. Our driver was a hoot--grinning ear to ear and driving as carefully as possible. He only got lost once--but immediately asked for directions. Otherwise we managed to communicate through hand gestures and lots of smiles.

We visited the tomb of Tu Duc and Khai Dinh, had a quick pizza lunch (we were craving it for some reason), then saw the Thien Mu Pagoda and took a boat ride down the Perfume River to Hòn Chén Temple.

grounds surrounding the tomb of Tu Duc

steps up to the tomb of Khai Dinh

Thien Mu Pagoda


According to Wikipedia: "Thien Mu Pagoda was a major organising point for the Buddhist movement and was often the location of hunger strikes, barricades and protests... The temple also houses the Austin motor vehicle in which Thich Quang Duc was driven to his self-immolation in Saigon in 1963 against the Diem regime. It was the first of a series of self-immolations by members of the Buddhist clergy, which brought the plight of Buddhists to the attention of the international community."