The Tomb of Khai Dinh

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Ginger

Khai Dinh was the twelfth emperor of the Nguyen dynasty in Vietnam, reigning from 1916 until his death at age forty in 1925. He was selected by the French who then controlled Indochina to become emperor after the death of his father’s two successors. Both of these were independent-minded, and the French believed Khai Dinh would be the easiest member of the royal family to control. Indeed, it is generally understood that he was a puppet figurehead of the French. He took the name Khai Dinh upon ascending to the throne. It means “auger of peace and stability.”

In 1920, Khai Dinh began construction of his own tomb–something of a tradition among Viet rulers. It took eleven years to complete, finally finished by Khai Dinh’s son Bao Dai in 1931. The high taxes Khai Dinh imposed upon his people in order to build his tomb greatly increased his unpopularity with his people.

The tomb is built on several levels on a steep hillside, with each space building up to the lavishly decorated tomb itself on the top level.

Inside, every surface is ornamented. Columns and walls are decorated with porcelain mosaics in both Oriental and French motifs. The ceiling is painted with dragons.

The tomb itself, surmounted with a likeness of the emperor, is dramatic and impressive.

Hue’s Dong Ba Market

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Ginger

Vietnam, one of our guides told us, is communist on a large scale, but on a small scale–capitalist at its heart. The people of Vietnam have embraced capitalism. You can see it in action at the Dong Ba Market.

Individual vendors have their own stalls where each sells his or her own specialty. You want food? Fresh? Dried? Dine-in? To-go? No problem . . .

But don’t think the market is limited to food. Here you can find everything from gilded buddhas to plastic bottles.

Me? I’ve been hankering after a pair of those practical plastic-and-straw flipflops you see everyone wearing around here.

Bargaining is de rigueur. I negotiate a price half of what the seller is asking. This is normal.

The shoes I try on are a bit small. The next larger size is a better fit. But now the vendor wants more because the sandals are bigger!

No way! My honor is at stake here. I hold out the amount we already agreed on. She hesitates and then . . . takes it. My market experience is complete.

Finally, here by special request, is (oh, I sincerely hope) a puzzle for you!

https://im-a-puzzle.com/#/play?ref=user/look_i_m_a_puzzle_14114&fromLink=myPuzzle

Hue Imperial City

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Ginger

There is a satisfying symmetry in having visited, in the same day, a structure begun by the first emperor of the Nguyen dynasty, and a structure completed by the last emperor of that dynasty. Fitting, too, perhaps, that the last structure was a tomb (a very impressive one, to be sure) in which the penultimate emperor was buried, while the first was the Imperial City in which the initial and subsequent emperors lived.

The place is huge, a city within a city. Begun in 1804 and employing thousands of workers, the fortifications surrounding the outer city are themselves surrounded by a moat more than ten kilometers long. Water was diverted from Hue’s Perfume River to fill the moat. The inner Imperial City was the abode of the royal family. It is surrounded by its own wall (above) and itself encompasses an impressively large area.

Gia Long, the first Nguyen emperor, unified his empire across all of what we now know as Vietnam–stretching from the border with China in the north to the South China Sea in the south. He established the capital of this empire at Hue, the ancestral home of his family. Nguyen emperors continued to live here until the Nguyen dynasty was overthrown in 1945. The Imperial City at one point contained over a hundred buildings, but much of it was destroyed during the French and the American wars. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is being restored.

A model of the Imperial City in its fully restored state

The Imperial City is spacious, with wide plazas and gracious buildings.

Deep within the complex are more intimate structures, surrounded by gardens.

They have amazing roof lines.

Somehow, the roofs harmonize with the artful garden arrangements.

In one area, we saw delicate and impressive bonsai trees.

Within the walls are also a couple of coffee shops. We passed one on our way out a different gate from the one we entered. The coffee shop and its adjacent courtyard were entirely charming. So was the gate!