Colonial Hue and War Reminders

Hue is a colonial city that's much more well-kept and clean (at least in parts) than the other cities we've visited so far, at least on the more touristed south bank of the river. On the north bank is the old Citadel and the Imperial City of the Nguyen Dynasty. Today we wandered throughout the old Citadel, Imperial City and the emperor's Forbidden City enclosure. It was beautiful but more striking was the daily life and residential area within the Citadel.

Throughout the trip so far, Mara and I have avoided the war era tourist attractions. We could have visited the tunnels outside of Saigon but chose not to. Here in Hue, we're only a few miles from the DMZ and China Beach but again, we've chosen not visit these places. However, everywhere you go, you're reminded of the atrocities of the war and our country's presence here. It was before my time but yet I'm struck by the history and what it might have been like. Today, walking along the street there were vendors selling old dug up paraphenalia from the war: canteens, badges and medals, detonated hand grenades and most disturbing, dog tags with American soldiers' names. As we walked to the Forbidden City we passed a museum with old tanks and guns out front. You can't help but wonder what life was like for these people as the Americans bombed much of the city. It's unavoidable.