Rainy Day at Minh Mang's Tomb

Little did we know that November and December are the rainiest months in the rainiest part of Vietnam which is Hue. Once you go over the mountains, the ones that divide north from south the weather changes or you go north about an hour, it just doesn't rain as much. Well, it rained all day and we walked around in it all day, but the last tomb of Minh Mang was worth it. So was the pagoda closer to town, but more of that later. It was built in the 1840s by his succesor, but it was planned during his life time. It is close to the Perfume river and about 12km from Hue.

This place is a gem. The harmony of scale and blending with the natural surroundings, the landscaping, is soooo lovely.There seems to be a tradition of bonsai trees because we saw lots of them here and the Imperial Palace, the Pagoda, all around town.  The ones in the large ceramic pots in the inner courtyards are amazing. Also the formal aesthetics to illustrate the esoteric ideas,  for example; three terraces representing 'the three powers', heaven, earth and water, and so on. It is a delight to turn your head and gaze from one vista to another, not even knowing any of this. I had no idea how much I liked architecture. But after looking at this, which to me rivals Palladio's villas (and I've seen them and loved them too), I'm hooked. Good architecture is inspiring, as in any art form.

My daypack needed a hair dryer to even get to 'slightly damp',  we were tired, but well worth the water to see a bit of heaven on earth.