Our tour took us on an overnight train from Hanoi to Hue (pronounced like ‘hway’) which lasted about 12 hours, leaving at 11pm. There were four to a cabin and the whole place was no bigger than my queen size mattress at home. We barely had enough room to store our luggage! Because I’ve been struggling with this cold, I went straight to sleep while the other explored the train a bit more.
When we arrived in the former capital of pre-communist Vietnam, we dropped off our luggage, went straight to lunch, and had a walking tour of the citadel. The architecture and history enclosed within the walls will I think be a future highlight of the trip as a whole. It was erected in 1804 after Emperor Gia Long reunited the nation from 200 years of turmoil. The emperor and his concubines (sometimes up to 150 of them, all who would give their lives once the king had passed away) lived within the imperial palace with hundreds of mandarins. Each type of person had their own entrance, one for the king, one for women, one for mandarins, and one for the army. If the heat wasn’t as unbearable I could have walked around for many more hours.
Out of all I saw and learned by visiting the temples, reading rooms, lakes, pagodas, bridges, etc, the most memorable will be the forbidden purple city, or the citadel-within-a-citadel-within-a-citadel. It was here where the emperor could stroll and take some peace alone. The majority of it was ruined in the “American War” (that’s what the Vietnamese call it) so it was ‘real’ walking through thinking of the destruction and chaos that took place just before my birth. You could see the leftovers as if it only happened a few years past however, we met some children, perhaps 16 years old, who were repairing the buildings and archways. I took some great shots of them dangling their feet from the rafters. I found this place so interesting and while I’m not quite sure why, I think it may be because it showed me how different Asia is to the U.S. and our more dull, western history.
After the citadel I took a much-needed siesta to try beating my cold and then we all walked in the dark through some alleyways to enjoy a royal banquet, an all-consuming feast of food and decor similar to what the emperor would enjoy every night. Even though it was quite hot outside we were each given some traditional attire to wear for the event: long colorful robes with floral patterns on them and hats. Of course a king and queen were needed so when none of my fellow women travelers took on the responsibility, I stepped up to the position :) Mark and I took the thrown above the rest of the group to enjoy our meal as King and Queen, of which was served to us piece by piece. They even would put a little sauce on each that they served; it somewhat felt a little like being a child again. Overall the evening was wonderfully full of customary music, greatly decorated food, and heaps of laughter.
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