The city of Hue, some 60 km or so south of what had been the DMZ, separating North from South Vietnam is the old Imperial Capital of Vietnam. Sadly the city is now equally remembered for the Tet Offensive in January 1968, exactly 55 years ago. The Vietcong launched a surprise Tet attack on Hue and for more than 3 weeks occupied the city and killed several thousand people, amongst which monks, intellectuals and wealthy merchants as well as South Vietnamese soldiers. The Americans launched a counteroffensive during which large sections of the old Imperial Citadel and Forbidden City were completely destroyed.
Our Hue guide, Peter is the son of a South Vietnamese military officer who was killed in action in 1972 when Peter was just 3 years old. In 1975 following the end of the “American” War and the Communist takeover of the entire country, Peter’s mother was among thousands in Hue rounded up and sent to a jungle “re-education” camp where she remained for the next 20 years. Peter and his siblings lived with grandparents and saw their mother just once a year when she was allowed to briefly return to Hue. Peter tells us that he wanted to become a doctor, but given his family background and his Catholic religion, he was denied entry to university. He tried twice to leave the country as a “boat person”. On the first occasion, the boat he was in was caught in a typhoon and blown back to China where he was arrested and returned to Vietnam. On the second occasion he paid for a boat passage but the boat sailed before he reached it. Peter went on to become a teacher, .earned English and has worked in the tourist industry for the past 20 years.
Hue has a very different feel to northern Vietnam. Less frenetic and crowded - more laid back Peter tells us. The Perfume River runs through the city, but for a city river it appears remarkably clean and very quiet - a complete absence of commercial traffic apart from a few tourist boats, although an almost complete absence of tourists!
Hue is also home to its very own “celebrity chef”. Madam Nhu Huy is a distinguished chef, TV food presenter and author of cookbooks whose culinary skills have been recognized by awards in France (from Paul Bocouse no less) and Belgium among others. Madam Nhu Huy hosted us for a multi course gourmet dinner at her home in a Hue suburb
Vietnam is now a thriving and increasingly prosperous country, Communist but very much a market driven economy. How different is Tet this year, the Year of the Cat according to the Vietnamese Lunar Calendar, in contrast to that awful Tet of 55 years ago…..
