VIETNAM'08 DAY 1

VIETNAM '08 DAY 1
Well here I am on the blog again. 3 flights via Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City to Hue in mid-Vietnam, all went to plan. Thai Airways excellent, especially the meals. Festival Hotel in Hue friendly and helpful, comfortable room good shower. Weather cool (unusually very cold for them, 10 degrees) and overcast, 10 days rain stopped when I arrived. No flooding though, rivers are at normal level. Hue is the old capital of Vietnam and was badly flooded last year when I came with the group.
Excellent first day spent walking around 'The Citadel' (25 mins walk from hotel). It is about 1km sq. and contains The Imperial City which itself includes the Forbidden Purple City, the king's residence where no man other than the Enperor was allowed. Only him and his dozens of wives, any other man who entered was risking a terrible fate. A bit like Dorothy Perkins. It was all built by successive Nguyen Emperors from early 19th century. The Citadel contains many buildingsand walkways including Thai Hoa Palace (The Palace of Supreme Harmony) (1805). Here were held bi-monthly grand audiences and ceremonies of the Nguyen Court presided over by the Emperor sitting on the Throne escorted by male members of the Royal family. The Manderins stood in lines facing the Palace according to rank. Soldiers on the right, acedemics on the left, this we were told coincides with the two sides of our brain and their functions. The women had to stay at home and do the washing and ironing. Many other impressive structures remain including the massive Noon Gate and the To Temple which has a line of alters each for worshipping a departed King of the Nguyen Dynasty.
Many buildings were destroyed by the japanese and americans but quite a few still stand and others are being restored. The Duyet Thai Royal Theatre (1826) was designed for the performing of Classical Operas and Royal Arts (music, singing, dancing, plays). It still holds live performances, with which if you pay a bit extra, you can have a pasty and cup of .tea. There were 10 musicians playing various traditional vietnamese instruments, 4 actors in a very expressive play and 16 dancers/singers. Also 2 unicorns that looked like panto dragons (one in the front/head and one in the back like a panto horse) who danced around frantically, mated and produced a baby unicorn/dragon who dropped out of the back of one of the dragons and proceeded to dance also. The pasty was a bit dry but the tea was very nice.
After the Royal Arts performance, I walked what seemed miles around the grounds, buildings and remains of buildings. One elegant structure was the Throne Room where the Emperor received important guests. A side room contained an exhibition of beautiful and striking modern paintings by the artist Hoang Thanh Phong. Now 29, he was there and was very interesting to talk to. While subsequently I was looking through his book of paintings, he secretly sketched my portrait - I will show you when I get back to UK. He said I look like Uncle Ho (Chi Minh), a real compliment in Vietnam. I offered to pay but he declined saying it was a souvenier.
There are lots of lakes and moats, some with hundreds of lotus flowers floating on the surface - beautiful. The whole thing is an astonishing monument to Vietnamese culture, architecture and history, with much beauty and many impressive structures and artifacts remaining, but also much sadness at what has been destroyed.
A great start to this holiday.
All the Best,
John