Day 9 – Hue (The Citadel)

It was almost 12 o’clock and I jumped on a motorbike for one dollar who took me to a hotel which seemed good and cheap from the description of my guidebook. The receptionist welcomed me with one of the largest smile I have ever seen. Her name was TU and she was quintessentially Vietnamese wearing the typical hat and traditional clothes. She took me to my room and collected all the info for the check in. The room was ok. 10 bucks a night including breakfast and with 3 hours-laundry service. I gave her all my stuff to wash and I finally jumped into a fresh shower. I put my very last shirt and my dirty shorts, flip-flop, guide in my bag, little laptop and ready again to hit the town.

Hue was the former imperial city of Vietnam. The city has developed a lot since the end of the Vietnamese war. The Americans’ B-52s with their bombs damaged a large part of the city, but in the last decades the city witnessed a flourish re-development and restoration of its antique splendours. Hue is shaped like 2 concentric rings with the inner one being the so called ‘old town’. The external circle comprises the modern buildings and all the new houses. Once I crossed the main gate of the citadel, I was immediately approached by a guy who wanted me to join him for a ride around the main attractions of the citadel sitting on his ‘armchair-bike’, the typical and old fashion way of transportation in town. Originally these sort of wheel-chairs were pulled by a guy on foot; now the driver is sitting behind and he cycles you around. This guy seemed very calm, the opposite of the screaming men that usually want to offer you a ride. I found out at the end that he is also mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide for being one of the best guide in town, and that sometimes he can be found right in front of the main portal, exactly where I was.  I decided for 5$ dollars to accept his offer and it definitely was the right thing to do. The citadel is actually very big and it would have taken me a lot to visit it all, without considering how tired I was after all. Thinh my guide, was extremely precise in giving me information about the old town and took me around a bit outside the beaten-track showing me the local temples and the houses of the locals. He described with vivid colours and with accurate descriptions the splendours of the imperial palace, the richness of its river, the damages and the horrors of the war; his father died while working in the house under an American bomb, but his voice was calm and his behaviour was of forgiveness. I must admit he was an exceptional man, a big practitioner of shaolin kung-fu and buddism. He told me that the main reason why he loves his job is because he learns from the people he carries around. He is not able to travel due to lack of money, but “his mind travels with the tales told by the people who sits on his bike”. His bike is his world in every sense.

 I felt compelled and attracted somehow by his wisdom and his ability to make things very simple. He was extremely curious to know about my last trip to India, and we managed, at the end of the tour of the citadel to sit down in his local cafe, next to his wife and children to talk and to discuss about the Indians and their society. His eyes were hungry of information like those of a baby. Fortunately I had my little netbook with me and I managed to show him some pictures of the cities and the temples I visited. After few minutes I had a little bunch of locals behind me looking at the screen and smiling with the few teeth they had left. I felt at home, even if I was thousands miles away. This is the Asia I love. I was the only Western person around locals, and even if I doubt they understood me while I was talking, they definitely understood what I was trying to say via images and body language. In case this didn’t happened, they simply smiled offering me another cup of the best coffee I have ever tasted.

I had dinner not too far from there in a local place, which was a little bit of a circus but with amazing and simple food. I had fresh spring rolls with beef and peanut sauce, chicken with vegetables and Vietnamese burritos. Delicious. I said goodbye to Thinh and to his family and walked back to my guest house.

I was recollecting my thoughts and the images of the citadel: the forbidden palace, the old houses, the red lanterns, the bombs of the war and the smiles of the people, were all mixing and passing through my mind very fast. So many stories, so many faces and so many little moments that forms, like small tiles, a larger mosaic of life.

As Thinh is learning a little bit about the outside world via his customers who sits on his bike, I am learning a little bit of the world thanks to people like Thinh.