Sunday, March 11, 2007

Hue. Ho. Let's Go!

We're about to head South from Hue, past Da Nang and onto Hoi An. Our brief but enjoyable time in Hue has been very different from Hanoi. Hue has a very rich history, being the former capital of Vietnam and home to the emperors and dynastic rulers of the land before the Communists took power. Hue was also the site of the Tet Offensive, forty years ago last month. When the VC held the city for 25 days, General Westmoreland bombed the crap out of the place, barely making a dent in the ancient stone temples and citadels that have stood for centuries before.

We spent the day going around to the temples and ancient palaces, even adjourning some costumes and posing for cheesy pictures as the terrorsome husband and wife emporer / empress from the 15th century. We ruled the land with an iron fist. We visited a Buddhist pagoda, still in operation today. Many monks and intellectuals were killed when the VC held the city, causing some buddhists to set fire to themselves in protest.

That afternoon, we spent $1 to catch the Huda Hue versus Da Nang soccer match at the local stadium. I tell you, Huda Hue is going all the way this year. Huda, the team sponsor is a mishmash of the words Hue and Da, or Denmark. Brewed in the Danish style, the beer is particularly hoppy (in my taste) and not my favorite. The soccer team isn't much better, drawing Da Nang to a 0-0 tie. The best part of the game were the men's urinals, which the wall connecting two sections of the stands. I didn't get to find out where the women's restroom was, could have been the same wall.

posted by ncawthon at 1:20 PM