We left Hanoi today (sadly) and headed to Hue, the ancient capital of Viet Nam. We visited the ancient citadel and saw remnants of the Nguyen dynasty and then traveled out to a small pagoda on a hill overlooking the river--a place of immense calm and beauty. I longed to stay for a few hours, feeling the need to reflect on all that we'd done so far. Unfortunately, there were these two pesky young guys saying, "Mom, mom...are you ready to go?" Well, no, but oh well.
An interesting tidbit and one of the first poignant juxtapositions of the trip. This peaceful pagoda--the Thien Mu Pagoda--was home to monk Thich Quang Duc, who drove his Austin motorcar to SaiGon in 1963 and publicly burned himself to death to protest the policies of the South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem. His car is still at the pagoda--a reminder of the time when violence and pain marred this beautiful country.
