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Hue 2
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Today we visited the Tomb of the Nguyen Dynasty Emperor Tu Duc. His tomb is set on the area that used to be his summer villa. He had a penchant for poetry and painting. He filled the area with pine forests, wildflowers and man-made lakes and islets. There is a flowing grace about the place that is calming and tranquil.
Hue was the seat of power during the two hundred year Nguyen Dynasty and the site of intricate royal palaces built in an ornate ancient Chinese fashion. Though most of these have been levelled to the ground by the French and Americans, you can still get a sense of the imperial life by visiting the citadel at Hue. Emperor Tu Duc, whose tomb we visited, was the most powerful of the Nguyen Lords and demanded that 50 dishes be presented to him by 50 servers at every meal. His chefs acquiesced and developed a highly ornate cuisine to serve him. Hue food is considered to be the height of haute cuisine in Vietnam. When we were in Hue we visited a restaurant that specialized in serving dishes in the Emperor's style and ate only 10 courses like the king...
Pollution, Plumbing and Heating
Sorry about all the typos in that last post. There are 3 things I thought I should mention about Vietnam to anyone who is considering coming here. There are so many beautiful things about the landscape. Here the mountains meet the sea and the land between the mountains is fertile green valleys. It's an ideal agricultural area and everywhere you see people farming every inch of available land. But there are things you should be warned of.
Pollution
Motorbikes and motorboats have taken over this once sleepy nation of bicycles and boathouses. The smog and dust, debris and exhaust fumes are non-stop. Everyone covers their entire face with cloth except for 2 eye holes while walking through a village because the dust and pollution are so bad. This grieves me because it seems like the people are ruining the one resource that they have: their land.
Plumbing and Heating
In most places, except for expensive hotels that cater to Americans, a toilet is a hole in the ground or a squat toilet. When we were on the train, the toilet was literally a hole in the train. What's worse is that the toilets are not well cleaned or hygienic by any stretch of the imagination. It takes a strong stomach to use them.
I was suprised to find out that almost all of the buildings in Vietnam have no heat, not even the buildings in Hanoi where this year it snowed twice over the Christmas holidays. The buildings are not outfitted for heat and the best any hotel can do is give you extra blankets. This is unlucky for us because we have come in a season marked by record cold spells in the Southeast Asia region. We are in the Hue and nights are in the 40's Fahrenheit(4 degrees Celsius), which would be okay if we had a bit of heat. Next we are going to Hanoi, where temperatures are dropping to the 30's and still they have no heat.