After Hanoi, CET took the program participants to Hue—the imperial city.
Hue houses a large amount of Vietnamese history considering that it acted as the capital through French colonization. Only after the, "American War" did Hanoi take power.
Our first afternoon in Hue was spent visiting a school that housed children, young adults, and adults with developmental disorders. The school, in part supported by Eurasia Foundation, teaches vocational skills to their pupils—including gardening, lacker painting, and food preparation. In addition, they also teach them life skills like brushing their teeth and public speaking. This experience showed me and my peers a completely different sphere of Vietnamese society that I never truly considered before. The services this school offers are in high demand but unfortunately uncommon. These individuals are cast aside and never given the chance to develop their potential and the Eurasia school attempts to give them the opportunity to be contributing members to society.
After leaving the Eurasia school and settling into the hotel, we met our tour guide—the operator of BeeBee tours. Our expert, Thu, is one of the most charismatic individuals I have ever met. Not only did she satiate us with information, but she was so genuinely in love with her city that you couldn't help but feel the same. Thu made sure to show us all the important sights in the city including the Heavenly Lady Pagoda, the Imperial Citadel, and the Mausoleum of Minh Mang. All of the sights gave us insight on the history of Vietnam and and the influence of China, France, and Confucianism.
One story that really stuck out to me was of the third to last Emperor, Duy Tan. Duy Tan, although a teen, had a very radical view of Vietnam. When on a beach, a waiter brought him a pail of water to clean his hands. He posed the waiter, "Dirty hands can be washed by water, but how can dirty water be washed?" The waiter could not reply, but Duy Tan clearly answered, "Blood." This anecdote was during the time of French colonization and the words for "water" and "country" in Vietnamese are the same—nước. Effectively, Duy Tan was stating that the only way to clean a "dirty" country was through bloodshed. Dark for a fourteen year old, right?
Aside from just the historically relevant destinations, we also stopped at an abandoned water park that I had first heard about in Hanoi. It just so happened that we passed it on the way back from the mausoleum and I almost popped a blood vessel from sheer joy that I was getting to see this crumbling water park. It was not in the itinerary, I just happened to ask about it at the right time and Thu was willing to take a slight detour. We couldn't see a lot, but we got to see the main attraction—a three-story tall cement dragon that, at one time, housed an aquarium with three live alligators. The park was a venture by Hue Tourism Group that failed and has since been reclaimed by the elements. Truly, this may have been the highlight of the trip because of how eery and eclectic this stop was compared to the others.
The following day—our last of the traveling seminar—we went on a bike ride through the streets of Hue and into one of the outlying towns. We visited a local museum that detailed how farmers and their families lived and worked in the region. From there, we got back on our bikes and made it to a local garden in the shadows of an ancient temple. While here, we helped gather ingredients for our lunch while also helping prepare our small feast. Similar to Mai Chau, it was a welcome reprieve to just be in a quiet spot surrounded by nature (and dogs).
Hue really gave an interesting look on just how rich the history is in Vietnam and how much it has been influenced by outside factors. Driving through the streets it was not uncommon to see fairly new homes sitting next to temples that date back to a period before the Declaration of Independence, for reference.
