Eric and I made a quick decision to go to Vietnam during the Chinese national holiday. A couple of points about Vietnam's history - they have been tied to China throughout their history. Despite repeated revolts the Chinese ruled Vietnam for over nine centuries. In 1788 the Vietnam leader Nguyen Anh returned home and seized control with the French missionaries. In 1802 he declared Hue the new national capital and himself the first ruler of the Nguyen Dynasty. The French were basically ruling Vietnam through this dynasty until the IndoChina war of 1946. This war lasted until 1954 when the Viet Minh inflicted their final defeat on the French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu.
After this battle the Geneva Conference was held where France, Britain, US and the USSR decided to partition Vietnam at the 17th parallel, pending general elections were never held, and the partition became permanent. The North became the Communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam with its capital in Hanoi under Ho Chi Minh and the South became the anti-communist Republic of Vietnam, with its capital at Saigon under the US-Allies and fervently Catholic Ngo Dinh Diem. By 1960 the US military advisors had initiated a 15 year war known in the US as the Vietnam war - and in Vietnam it was known as the American War. After this war Vietnam went into a time of serious decline - they became one of the poorest countries in Asia Pacific. By the early 1980's, impoverished and isolated, Vietnam was well on the way to starvation and economic collapse. In 1986 the death of their leader Le Duan brought about significant change. Over the next 10 years the country made significant process and in 1995 the US lifted its trade embargo and restored full diplomatic relations with Vietnam.
We decided to to start our trip in Hue. This is the central part of Vietnam and Hue is where the Imperial City is located. This area was designated a World Heritage Site in 1995. The Citadel was established by Emperor Gia Long in 1805 (the first emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty). We included some pictures from this area in our photo gallery. It actually comprises three concentric enclosures - the civic, imperial and forbidden purple cities. Each area had a specific purpose - the forbidden city was the emperor and his family (including concubines) private area. The civic area was where all public events were held. The imperial area was where the Emperor spent time educating his heirs and allowed the children to play.
We also visited several of the Imperial tombs - this was very cool. It was much better than I expected - and the designs were amazing. Most of them were designed by the emperor that was going to be buried within them. They often used the areas during their life to work and study away from the main palace. There were 13 rulers who sat on the imperial throne but only seven were given the honor of their own tombs - the rest died in disgrace or in exile.
It rained the entire time we were in the city -- I have never been so wet - it took me 2 hours to dry out and my shoes were still wet went we got home 5 days later..... Click here if you want more information about Hue....
The next day we went on a Motor Bike Tour across the fields of Vietnam. IT WAS AWESOME!!! We didn't kill anyone else or ourselves. We went to an area called My Son (Me Soon) - which was like Ankor Wat but damaged significantly during the French and Vietnam Wars. It was finally declared a Unesco World Heritage Site. This was a religious center between 4th and 13th centuries. Traces of around 70 temples may still be found but only 20 are still in good condition. The Cham Empire existed in Vietnam for about 1,600 years from the 2nd century AD to its downfall in 1832. Today, there is still a community of Cham living in Vietnam. Charm art derives from the Indic tradition and represents Hindu deities with their celestial mounts, dancing girls and demons - this art is carved into many of the temples we could still see. Click here if you want to read more about it....
The last place that we spent time on this trip was the city of Hoi An. Its located on the north bank of the Thu Bon River, Hoi An was an important trading port from the 16th to the 18th century. This town was also declared a Unesco World Heritage because of some unique features....including long, narrow tube houses, Chinese pagodas, and the Japanese Covered Bridge. This old bridge was built by the Japanese in 1593 to link them with the Chinese quarter of the city. The whole city was amazing - we could have spent more time there...it was quaint and the people were really nice. We did buy some art here and we also participated in an English class to some young students - it was pretty funny. Click here if you want to read more about Hoi An....
We have a video that is really cool - it is Eric wearing the go pro while driving on the motorcycle....we also have video's from Hoi An, My Son, Hue and the Emperor Tombs....hope you enjoy and all is well....
After this battle the Geneva Conference was held where France, Britain, US and the USSR decided to partition Vietnam at the 17th parallel, pending general elections were never held, and the partition became permanent. The North became the Communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam with its capital in Hanoi under Ho Chi Minh and the South became the anti-communist Republic of Vietnam, with its capital at Saigon under the US-Allies and fervently Catholic Ngo Dinh Diem. By 1960 the US military advisors had initiated a 15 year war known in the US as the Vietnam war - and in Vietnam it was known as the American War. After this war Vietnam went into a time of serious decline - they became one of the poorest countries in Asia Pacific. By the early 1980's, impoverished and isolated, Vietnam was well on the way to starvation and economic collapse. In 1986 the death of their leader Le Duan brought about significant change. Over the next 10 years the country made significant process and in 1995 the US lifted its trade embargo and restored full diplomatic relations with Vietnam.
We decided to to start our trip in Hue. This is the central part of Vietnam and Hue is where the Imperial City is located. This area was designated a World Heritage Site in 1995. The Citadel was established by Emperor Gia Long in 1805 (the first emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty). We included some pictures from this area in our photo gallery. It actually comprises three concentric enclosures - the civic, imperial and forbidden purple cities. Each area had a specific purpose - the forbidden city was the emperor and his family (including concubines) private area. The civic area was where all public events were held. The imperial area was where the Emperor spent time educating his heirs and allowed the children to play.
We also visited several of the Imperial tombs - this was very cool. It was much better than I expected - and the designs were amazing. Most of them were designed by the emperor that was going to be buried within them. They often used the areas during their life to work and study away from the main palace. There were 13 rulers who sat on the imperial throne but only seven were given the honor of their own tombs - the rest died in disgrace or in exile.
It rained the entire time we were in the city -- I have never been so wet - it took me 2 hours to dry out and my shoes were still wet went we got home 5 days later..... Click here if you want more information about Hue....
The next day we went on a Motor Bike Tour across the fields of Vietnam. IT WAS AWESOME!!! We didn't kill anyone else or ourselves. We went to an area called My Son (Me Soon) - which was like Ankor Wat but damaged significantly during the French and Vietnam Wars. It was finally declared a Unesco World Heritage Site. This was a religious center between 4th and 13th centuries. Traces of around 70 temples may still be found but only 20 are still in good condition. The Cham Empire existed in Vietnam for about 1,600 years from the 2nd century AD to its downfall in 1832. Today, there is still a community of Cham living in Vietnam. Charm art derives from the Indic tradition and represents Hindu deities with their celestial mounts, dancing girls and demons - this art is carved into many of the temples we could still see. Click here if you want to read more about it....
The last place that we spent time on this trip was the city of Hoi An. Its located on the north bank of the Thu Bon River, Hoi An was an important trading port from the 16th to the 18th century. This town was also declared a Unesco World Heritage because of some unique features....including long, narrow tube houses, Chinese pagodas, and the Japanese Covered Bridge. This old bridge was built by the Japanese in 1593 to link them with the Chinese quarter of the city. The whole city was amazing - we could have spent more time there...it was quaint and the people were really nice. We did buy some art here and we also participated in an English class to some young students - it was pretty funny. Click here if you want to read more about Hoi An....
We have a video that is really cool - it is Eric wearing the go pro while driving on the motorcycle....we also have video's from Hoi An, My Son, Hue and the Emperor Tombs....hope you enjoy and all is well....
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