Moving on

In 1968 I was 9 years old and living a comfortable life in rural NSW pretty much oblivious to the international situation.

image: robynejay

Here in Hue it was the scene of the Tet Offensive. With US forces focused elsewhere, for 3 1/2 weeks the National Liberation Front flag flew from the Flag Tower and Hue's 'uncooperative elements' were shot, clubbed to death or buried alive. It's estimated that 2500 of the town's merchants, monks, priests, intellectuals and government workers were killed.

With the South Vietnamese army unable to dislodge the Viet Cong and Nth V, the US army was called in. Huge areas of the city were levelled and in total around 10,000 killed.

It was a little surreal to walk a city with so recent a violent past. We gave Dong to a guy minus his legs, and passed hawkers selling military paraphenalia.

In the Imperial Enclosure tourist dollars are rebuilding and restoring the 1803 structures. French, US and Australian visitors are welcomed with smiles and grace.

Hue Haven

After a 3:30am start and flight to Hue the constant sprooking as we wandered the streets was getting pretty tedious. "Buy from me!" was replaced by "One hour!" as cyclo and scooter owners advertised their services every 3 m in a town best explored by foot.

So it was a welcome relief to stumble upon the XQ embroidery centre; a serene spiritual haven amidst the madness. We sipped a complimentary cup of green ginger tea, wandered from building to building through beautiful gardens and watched women embroidering the most exquisite works of art following designs by a team of artists, silk on silk. Perhaps the most spectacular were the double sided silk screens of flowers and tigers.



Check out some more pics we took here.

It's the little gems like this that will be treasured memories.