After getting a peek at the splendour the emperors used to live in yesterday, it’s time to check out their current residence: their tombs. In the tradition of godly rulers everywhere, the mausoleums are massive, lavish affairs well worth a look, and a few of them are just a short ride away from Hue town centre.
Keen to get more exercise in, we contemplated renting a couple of bicycles and organising our own tour yesterday, but for simplicity’s sake, ended up chartering a taxi with the help of our guesthouse. And this morning, we’re very glad of that decision: it’s a cold, wet, rainy day, very much not the kind of weather we’d want to be out in! Our window overlooks one of the citadel’s lakes and we got woken up by the patter of raindrops on the pond outside - not promising for the rest of the day. Luckily, we’re being chauffeured around, and from the dryness of the cab, the weather actually really adds to the atmosphere. Silver clouds roll overhead while tendrils of mists rise from the forest, hugging the spires of the monuments, and the overcast sky dampens sounds and deters crowds, making everything a bit quieter and this much more mystical. It almost seems more appropriate to be paying our respect to the emperors’ last abodes on this grey day rather than under a jolly sun, and coming from England, the gentle drizzle is barely an inconvenience.
We’re visiting two mausoleums today, from very different periods: first Khai Dinh’s extravagant European-inspired tomb, built in the 1930s, and then Tu Duc’s quieter summer palace turned resting place, from the mid 1800s. As we alight in front of the French wrought-iron gates of our first stop, the western influence in Khai Dinh’s designs is apparent - although there’s still plenty of exoticism to delight us. Built in tiers on a steep hillside, the monument towers over us, all imposing grey and black. Those classical proportions wouldn’t look out of place in Rome, except - what’s this guarding the entrance? As we walk into the first courtyard, a veritable checkerboard of life-size pieces greets us. Several dozen statues of courtesans, mandarins, horses and elephants are lined up on both sides, eternally watching over the approach to the emperor. While this is in the purest Vietnamese tradition, to us it’s something we’ve only seen in eastern-inspired video games so far - and with the mists rising all around us, we feel a bit in fantasy-land indeed (Pandaria anyone?). The only factor detracting from this impressive arrangement is size: the statues are life-like, which means, about two heads shorter than us!
Still, we gaze around in wonder for a bit before continuing up the stairs towards the final palace holding the emperor’s body. Sculpted dragons line the steps, a giant inscription in Chinese characters celebrate the ruler’s life (although we understand poor Khai Dinh was little more than a complacent local enforcer for the French government) and in the clouds and the drizzle the surrounding forest is as mysterious as we could wish it - even with quite a few tourists around we’re relishing the atmosphere. As we step inside the palace, cranes and dragons remind us we’re in Asia, but otherwise the extravagant mosaics covering every surface wouldn’t look out of place in a baroque church. Pink and gold is everywhere in the emperor’s last room and there is certainly a bit of a decadent air to this dazzle! We preferred the more low-key exterior overall.
One last wave to the stone mandarins and we’re driving on, backwards in time to go visit one of the first and longest-reigning monarchs of the Nguyen dynasty. Tu Duc’s mausoleum is spread out over the vast grounds of his former summer palace, and by the time we get there, the drizzle has slowed to a halt, letting us enjoy the sights. Even though this is the second top monument to visit around Hue, it’s fairly quiet here, and we get the full impact of the beautiful curated vistas to the various pavilions around the pretty park. First, facing one of the landscaped ponds, the summer palace itself: it’s in a very similar style to the buildings in Hue, with glazed pagoda roofs, ornate window screens, decorated arches and doorways and a maze of cute courtyards. It’s just big enough that we can ditch the other tourists and lose ourselves amongst the halls, finding several closed back doors and a contingent of guards having their morning coffee! On this damp day the vibe is rather different here and the strings of water dripping down from the eaves add an odd charm to our visit.
As we exit, we head to the lake to watch the army of koi fighting over some of the fish food being dispensed out - and looking up from the frenzy for a bit, notice a couple of paths tantalisingly snaking away in the greenery. We’re not in a hurry, and stepping carefully over the slippery red tiles, we make our way deeper into the park, enjoying the stillness of the ancient trees. Soon enough, we find more monuments: grand staircases leading up to enclosed stone courtyards presided over by a single huge coffin. These are the tombs of the emperor’s family, impressive but still discrete.
But as we turn another corner, the main event greets us: up several flight of stairs, framed by gorgeous frangipani and guarded by another contingent of stone courtesans, is the tomb of Tu Duc himself. It’s a whole sequence to approach the monarch, with a first pavilion containing his biography, a pause by an ornamental pond, and another staircase up to the coffin’s enclosure itself - and all of it is absolutely stunning. No extravagant mosaics this time, and the body is resting in a simple grey box, but the complex surrounding it creates such jaw-dropping perspectives that frankly any more decoration would be too much.
Slightly dazed by this gorgeous display, we get back to the car ready to head back to town. On the way, we make a short stop at the seven-tiered Thien Mu Pagoda, apparently one of the symbols of the city of Hue - but we can’t even climb the tower, and after the splendour of the emperor’s tombs, it’s really underwhelming. The only element of note is the enshrined Austin car of monk Thic Quang Duc, who drove it to Saigon and set himself on fire to demonstrate against the war and the actions of the South Vietnam gouvernement, in 1963. Sadly, he was not the only one - a handful of people resorted to that most extreme of protests before the country eventually reunified.
We’ve been very efficient with our visits and it’s just lunchtime by the time we’re back to Hue - early enough to catch the 1:30pm train out to our next stop, Dong Hoi. It’s a nondescript train journey under continuing drizzle as we surreptitiously dry our wet socks and shoes, and soon enough we’re there. Little to see in this small town, but just next door is the natural park of Phong Nha Kebang, housing some of the biggest caves in Vietnam, and in order to visit it we’ve chosen to stay here closer to the train station rather than risk a couple of night bus trips (we’ve heard horror stories). Tomorrow evening, we will be catching our second night train in Vietnam, towards the Ninh Binh region - another one of those “nocturnal” journeys finishing at 3am… We’ve got everything sorted however, with the hotel coming to pick us up at the station, and in the meantime, we’re looking forward to a tour of a couple of the most famous caves in Phong Nha tomorrow before we travel on.
We got to Dong Hoi earlier than expected, and while our hotel is very nice, it is in the middle of nowhere, and also entirely occupied with a large Chinese party (wedding?) who look at us askance when we try to get a table in the restaurant they are occupying. Luckily, the Rex does room service, and we’re very comfortable in our spacious suite here. A short phone call later, and we end up feasting on special fried rice (perfect for our slightly upset tummies after our adventurous lunch in Hue yesterday) while watching some British TV - a welcome almost normal evening in the midst of all this travelling.
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