Nevertheless, I was still in Vietnam, having the time of my life travelling. What a wonderful life!
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| Hue citadel on the right. Quite impressive sizewise... |
Next stop, My Son and Hue. Both known for its historical and cultural heritage from ancient vietnamese royal families. It is a must see in Veitnam, as there are no other remainings like that in whole Vietnam. Some poeople don't appreciate Vietnam as it does not have spectacular buildings, astonishing beaches or it is not developed to standards of most surrounding countries. For me it felt different. I deliberately chose it for its uniqueness in that respect. At last something different, something refreshing and natural. A challenge.
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| Hue citadel by http://www.alphareconassociation.org/ |
So was Hue. But I decided that bad weather cannot ruin my staying there, so I went for a city tour. The city itself was bigger then I had anitcipated. When you think if walking to any palace complex you have in mind some builsings, maybe a garden and orchard. Right? Nothing like that in Hue :). I mean there were buildings and gardens... but it was way bigger and spread all over like nothing I have ever seen so far. It must have been so beautiful back in the days of greatest power! Due to the rain it was not possible to walk it all, limiting muself just to several closest buidlings I ended up jumping in the water with historimy shoes wet anyway.
Now when I give it a second thought, it was actually quite upsetting, the whole Hue citadel experience. Seeing such a great culture heritage being wasted is almost heartbreaking. Only a handful of buildings were partly renovated. None of the gardens or orchards was even close to its original shape. You could hardly read the descriptions in the memory places.
It needs a lost of investments and people who will appreciate it and put a lot of work and heart to restore its speldor. Unfortunately there is no EU-unlce who can put money on the table to save it from deterioration.
Of course administration buildings are okey-ish :). There was also a small theather where they perform nowadays, then the local pagoda or two and the main audience room. The rest was flooded or not renovated enough to enter. Some construction works were going on though. Maybe there is hope.
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| HUE city map. Part of the citadel being on top left. |
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| Hue citadel admission ticket |
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| The Theathre at the Citadel - still operational! I sneaked into the wardrobe and had a look on the costumes. Very precious and hand made. The place is hosting concerts and theathre performances. |
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| Audience view - as you can see it is a tiny place. Just for the king! :) |
I noticed in all Vietnam that they like keeping wild animals whether they are birds in little crates, or monkeys chained to tables for tourist entertainment, or elephants... Only cats were running free with a bit more respect from the locals..And dogs? Dogs are a whole different story. Maybe I will write it one day.
Walking around the citadel, dismissing endless chain of risksha drivers offering a lift, which in the end was almost a welcoming option - anything to get out of the rain - you can also find an endless stalls with all sorts of post-war objects. From cutlery, bowls, knives to military decorations, soldiers' personal tags, bullets, guns.. and more if you dare to ask for specifics. It was making me somehow uneasy to be walking aorund that thinking that somebody could be actually buying the authentic tags of soldiers who stayed here.. forever..or other personal belongings.
I was told that some of it may not be authentic, however this inlclines that you have far greater chances of getting the real stuff and only small chance of getting fakes. No thank you!
Then there was the local market. The food section was tiny, or maybe it was just too late in the afternoon and the main traffic has died down already. Feeling brave we went for some food. Not really knowing what we were eating for main course (some meety grilled stuff), we went for a colorful looking dessert afterward. What was looking colourful and tasty from a counter was nothing like this in tems of actual flavour. The colours were speaking to me for sure, when you see all the rainbow closed in small boxes you think it must be some delicious fruity cocktails they serve. Wrong again!
Pointing at the plastic cup I asked for one portion of whatever dessert she would think was tasty. So the lady took the cup and started throwing things in, a bit if pink, bit if green, some yellow, some orange, some blue, some dark brown (!)... some liquid - presumably coconut milk, some ice.. and voila! My dessert was ready. Not sure if I am to mix it or not, I wanted to give it a try just like this, which made the lady screaming at me.. obviously some stirring was required :).
In the end it turned out it was all kinds of jelly thrown in and mixed all together. Because there were so many different flavours in, it was hard to distinguish main flavour. Instead I was picking up on single gelly colours and trying to guess what was it made from. I don't think there was any added sugar or any other ingredient to boost the flavour, as all in all I was not moved by it.
Then the local person approach the counter and asked for one. And she got something totally different. I mean it was still a plastic cup but the inside was very strange. I cannot even describe it in words. The lady used whole different ingredients, there was even some greeny weeds (or at least it looked like weeds). So I guess the sky is the limit in terms of mixing the stuff together.
To be honest I did not manage to finish even half of the cup. Instead we were laughing day long about this experience making fun and trying to anticipate any stomach problems that might occurr as a result.
But nothing like that happened. The food was all safe.
To make up for a missed dessert choice I went for my favourite banana panckake, but it was disappointing the same. You can buy banana panckakes literally on the street, where sit with their little frying pans and a dough next to them. They are all fresh as they are made as you go. But obviously the amount of bananas and the overall flavour can vary. And this was not my lucky day for desserts.
What puzzled me instead, was interaction of the ladie's family with me. There was her little son and her husband sitting next to her frying station. Waiting for my pancake to be ready I was looking at the boy and smiling, trying to make him less shy. The boy must have been few years old and not used to strangers and tourists in particular. Both parents were forcing the boy to come over to me to say hello, they wanted even to push him in my arms, even though the boy was really miserable about this idea. His overall health condition was not great either, I think he will not have many teeth once he grows up. :(
Just a thought, why were they so pushy with trying the boy to make friends with me? I mean I am used to parets trying to force their children to speak some English with me, but I find it more natural - when there is no education, this is their way of teaching children some basic words so they can sell some stuff to English tourists later. But why to try and push your child in the arms of foreigner? Uhm... I had to back off immediately not to cause a scene. Got my pancake and off I went. Another new priceless experience for a price of one banana pancake...
Change of subject :)
Another military display near the Citadel. It is nicely taken care of and makes a kind of disproprtion between how they are keeping the buildings maintained (or not maintained in fact) and these kind of displays. Maybe it is because it does not require so much funds and it relatively easy to put as a display. It is just my wild guess..
Walking around the citadel, dismissing endless chain of risksha drivers offering a lift, which in the end was almost a welcoming option - anything to get out of the rain - you can also find an endless stalls with all sorts of post-war objects. From cutlery, bowls, knives to military decorations, soldiers' personal tags, bullets, guns.. and more if you dare to ask for specifics. It was making me somehow uneasy to be walking aorund that thinking that somebody could be actually buying the authentic tags of soldiers who stayed here.. forever..or other personal belongings.
I was told that some of it may not be authentic, however this inlclines that you have far greater chances of getting the real stuff and only small chance of getting fakes. No thank you!
Then there was the local market. The food section was tiny, or maybe it was just too late in the afternoon and the main traffic has died down already. Feeling brave we went for some food. Not really knowing what we were eating for main course (some meety grilled stuff), we went for a colorful looking dessert afterward. What was looking colourful and tasty from a counter was nothing like this in tems of actual flavour. The colours were speaking to me for sure, when you see all the rainbow closed in small boxes you think it must be some delicious fruity cocktails they serve. Wrong again!
Pointing at the plastic cup I asked for one portion of whatever dessert she would think was tasty. So the lady took the cup and started throwing things in, a bit if pink, bit if green, some yellow, some orange, some blue, some dark brown (!)... some liquid - presumably coconut milk, some ice.. and voila! My dessert was ready. Not sure if I am to mix it or not, I wanted to give it a try just like this, which made the lady screaming at me.. obviously some stirring was required :).
In the end it turned out it was all kinds of jelly thrown in and mixed all together. Because there were so many different flavours in, it was hard to distinguish main flavour. Instead I was picking up on single gelly colours and trying to guess what was it made from. I don't think there was any added sugar or any other ingredient to boost the flavour, as all in all I was not moved by it.
Then the local person approach the counter and asked for one. And she got something totally different. I mean it was still a plastic cup but the inside was very strange. I cannot even describe it in words. The lady used whole different ingredients, there was even some greeny weeds (or at least it looked like weeds). So I guess the sky is the limit in terms of mixing the stuff together.
To be honest I did not manage to finish even half of the cup. Instead we were laughing day long about this experience making fun and trying to anticipate any stomach problems that might occurr as a result.
But nothing like that happened. The food was all safe.
To make up for a missed dessert choice I went for my favourite banana panckake, but it was disappointing the same. You can buy banana panckakes literally on the street, where sit with their little frying pans and a dough next to them. They are all fresh as they are made as you go. But obviously the amount of bananas and the overall flavour can vary. And this was not my lucky day for desserts.
What puzzled me instead, was interaction of the ladie's family with me. There was her little son and her husband sitting next to her frying station. Waiting for my pancake to be ready I was looking at the boy and smiling, trying to make him less shy. The boy must have been few years old and not used to strangers and tourists in particular. Both parents were forcing the boy to come over to me to say hello, they wanted even to push him in my arms, even though the boy was really miserable about this idea. His overall health condition was not great either, I think he will not have many teeth once he grows up. :(
Just a thought, why were they so pushy with trying the boy to make friends with me? I mean I am used to parets trying to force their children to speak some English with me, but I find it more natural - when there is no education, this is their way of teaching children some basic words so they can sell some stuff to English tourists later. But why to try and push your child in the arms of foreigner? Uhm... I had to back off immediately not to cause a scene. Got my pancake and off I went. Another new priceless experience for a price of one banana pancake...
Change of subject :)
Another military display near the Citadel. It is nicely taken care of and makes a kind of disproprtion between how they are keeping the buildings maintained (or not maintained in fact) and these kind of displays. Maybe it is because it does not require so much funds and it relatively easy to put as a display. It is just my wild guess..
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