My Son and Hue

Danang is a great place to base yourself to explore some of the most significant sites in Vietnam. One of these is Hue, which houses a citadel from which the Nguyen empire ruled. It also has a spectacular train ride from Danang up the coast through the Hai Van Pass, which Gillian duly booked. We found ourselves on a tourist train, which came complete with an entertainment carriage, with live singing of Vietnamese folk songs. Seating was allocated, but the whole system was pretty loose, with many people parking themselves at the entertainment carriage or walking up and down looking for the best instaworthy shots. This was lucky, as our late decision to book meant that we had seats in separate carriages. Gillian spent about half her time enjoying the entertainment, while James had a more contemplative ride looking out the window. The downside of the train was that it stopped for every other train to go past, which led to some delays (top speed only reaching 46 kph). The arrival into Hue was over an hour late, which turned out to put a bit of pressure on our timetable for the rest of the day.

The fortress in Hue is built on the banks of the Perfume River (it doesn't actually smell that good...) and dominated the view from the opposite side as we walked over there from the station. It is a massive complex and contains its own Forbidden City, although it is not quite so well preserved as its more famous cousin in Beijing. That said, it is an incredibly impressive complex, which deserves more attention than it seems to get. 

A lot of work has gone in to preservation and restoration of the complex, and our jaws were on the floor half the time with the scale of the buildings and the complexity of the entire place. It was a fantastic place to visit, and came complete with a spectacular bonsai garden (for James), art display and a wealth of history about the functioning of the Nguyen empire up until the French took over. The only downside was that we could have kept going and going, and regretted not booking accommodation in Hue for the night to give us some extra time to explore the citadel and the rest of the city. 

The other place we visited in central Vietnam was the My Son sanctuary, yet another UNESCO listed site (as is the Hue citadel and Forbidden City). This was the main religious centre of the Champa kingdom, and was built in stages from the 4th to the 13th centuries. It is a temple complex akin to Angkor Wat, although nowhere near as big and extensively damaged from bombing during the American War. It has lots of architectural elements in common, but also incorporates European features (like stone columns) in some of the buildings, originating from the emergence of trade routes between East and West. The original bricks naturally inhibit algae/moss/lichen growth. They are also 25% lighter than modern bricks, while retaining the same strength. Apparently investigations to date cannot reproduce these features. 

Some of the original buildings still stand, and many more are in the process of being recreated across the site. There are many interesting features, including extensive use of linga-yoni stones, which represent the union of Shiva and Shakti. Our guide had a slightly different interpretation, with the two parts representing the male and female sex organs, and water poured over the top of the linga to collect in the yoni is collected then to enhance the fertility of crops - a kind of metaphysical fertiliser. The temples had a sole entrance and no windows, representing a return to the womb, and there were buildings for food preparation, storage and ritual bathing. The whole site was fascinating to explore, including being able to watch some of the archaeological and restoration work that is ongoing.