Mom and Dad once again invaded/blessed us with their presence in Vietnam and we did some touring. After a few days in sunny Hoi An, we drove up the coast to Hue. It’s a beautiful three hour drive. First, up the coast through Danang, passing a several mile stretch of massive hotel construction. Danang has a beautiful white sand beach – known as “China Beach” during the war. Within 2 years, the 20 kilometer stretch from Hoi An to Danang should have thousands of 5-star hotel rooms, golf courses and a (huge and tacky) casino. I go to Danang frequently for work and am always impressed by its well-regulated traffic (trust me, if you lived in Hanoi, you’d also be thrilled by well-regulated traffic), modern infrastructure, and fresh seafood. Anyway, Mom and Dad got to see the airport and a highway.
Once past Danang, the three hour drive took us up and over the mountains in Bach Ma national park along the coast. The road winds up along the mountainside overlooking the East (South China) Sea. As we approached heights of close to 2,000 feet, we enjoyed a wide panorama first of Danang in its bay and then, once we cleared the pass, of the coastline up to Hue. On a sunny day, you can see for miles. On a hazy day, somewhat less, but it’s still a wonderful view. It’s always windy, so the temperature was quite mild. Once we finished traversing the hairpin turns on the way down the mountain, we could look back at the cloud-covered mountain tops marching to the ocean.
Hue served as the imperial capital of Vietnam during the reign of the Nguyen Emperors from the dynasty’s founding in 1802 by Gia Long to its end, with the abdication of Emperor Bao Dai in 1945. The Perfume River bisects the city, with the citadel and the Imperial Purple Palace on the north and much of the modern city on the south. In the hills and valleys surrounding the city lie several elaborate tombs for the Nguyen Emperors. Unlike many Vietnamese waterways, the Perfume River has not yet been subject to heavy industrial and urban pollution. While I can’t see it actually lives up to its name, at the least, you could call it the “Neutral Smelling” River or the “That Actually Smells Like Water” River.
We stayed at the Le Residence hotel, which was constructed as part of the French Governors residence in the early part of the 20th century. Newly expanded, it retains its art deco architecture, with beautiful rooms over the river. Liz and I enjoyed massages at the hotel Spa, where I saw a copy of “AsiaSpaMen” magazine. Now, I can imagine a fairly large market for a certain type of men’s spa in Asia, but this seemed to be on the up and up, which made me wonder how large the target demographic would be for Asian Men who like spas or for Men who like (legitimate) Asian spas.
The tombs of the Nguyen Emperors and the Imperial Palace are the main tourist attractions in Hue. We visited three tombs – Minh Mang and Tu Duc, from early in the 19th century, and Khai Dinh (Bao Dai’s predecessor) from the early 20th century. The sites were well chosen – nestled into mountain valleys or along rivers and streams, carefully situated according to Feng Shui principles. With rolling hills and fresh-scented pine, they were a far cry from hazy Hanoi. The tombs for Tu Duc and Minh Mang were (not surprisingly) very Asian, most likely modeled on Chinese architecture. Khai Dinh, who served as Emperor when the French were firmly established in Indochina, had a tomb that merged European and Asian styles remarkably well. The Imperial Palace was undergoing some repairs and didn’t impress us as much as the tombs. I did, however, almost walk into a 9-inch spider in the men’s room (I have photos), so the visit didn’t lack for excitement (read: terror).
Into every life a little rain must fall. For us, it was the food in Hue. Throughout Vietnam, Hue is known as the place to get the best Vietnam food. From imperial cuisine to spicy local dishes, this is the place to eat well. Except, we didn’t. Even Liz’s co-workers from Hue pushed us towards the tourist traps. Too much time worrying about presentation, less time focused on taste. I know it must be there and won’t rest until we find it. We did, however, find a couple of nice, low-end places, but nothing like we had expected. Nevertheless, as per usual, I returned home with a nice batch of food poisoning – the souvenir that just keeps giving.
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