Having traveled alone for about 6 weeks, we were joined by some familiar faces: my parents, Marcy and Henry. After a long day flying from New York via Seoul, they met us in Hue, the former imperial city that was the seat of the Nguyen Dynasty emperors from 1802 to 1845. We took in Hue’s history with our first outing together to the Imperial City, protected within large citadel walls. During the Battle of Hue, one of the longest and bloodiest of the Vietnam War, nearly 150 out of 160 buildings were destroyed; however, we still got a strong impression of Hue’s former imperial glory. The next day, we hired a boat to steer us down the Perfume River in search of more monuments to the emperors. We stopped at the Pagoda of the Celestial Lady and the tombs of Khai Dinh, Tu Duc, and Minh Mang. The brilliant inlaid porcelain in the tomb of Khai Dinh made it stand out from the older, more weathered tombs of his predecessors. The Nguyen Dynasty collectively modernized Vietnam through agricultural innovations, a standardized measurement system, and localized government. On our last day in Hue, we joined Mr. Duy of DMZ Tours for a full-day tour of Vietnam War sites. Because North and South Vietnam met at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the country’s center, the area was one of the most heavily bombed and devastated during the war. Mr. Duy lived through the war, and shared his vivid memories of its horrors. His village was bombed by both the North Vietnamese, as well as the South Vietnamese and Americans because of its location near the edge of both sides’ territory. He recalls meeting American soldiers, the C-130 landing strip that used to be downtown in Dong Ha, where he lives, and the pain that so many of his neighbors faced because of the war. We visited Khe Sanh Combat Base, a U.S. base in the steep mountains near the Laos border. The thick vegetation, windy roads, and tall peaks illuminated how difficult and trying the war must have been for soldiers and civilians. This reality was especially underscored by our visit to the Vinh Moc tunnels, which housed hundreds of villagers 10-30 meters underground for 6 years. Over a dozen babies were born in the stone tunnels’ maternity room, and the single toilet room served everyone. It was rare to get more than an hour of time outside in daylight, as the villagers usually emerged at night in the safe cover of darkness. We thank Mr. Duy again for sharing his stories and for his broad historical knowledge, which made for an excellent tour.
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September 2018
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