One big dowry

A few days ago I was invited to go the temple of King Tran Nhan Tong. Even though I have lots and lots of work to do I figure I may as well take advantage of Hue's amazing temple and tombs in my last week here. I am glad I went because it was absolutely beautiful, full of history, and also there were no tourists there! The temple is for both King Tran Nhan Tong and his daughter, Princess Huyen Tran. The Princess was married off to a Champa king, the dowry being two of the Cham provinces. Obviously, receiving two provinces was a huge deal and greatly contributed to the expansion of the nation, making Princess Huyen Tran a heroine in Vietnam. Two whole provinces– this Princess must have been pretty amazing! Only one year after their marriage the Champa king died. According to Champa tradition, the Princess was supposed to be burnt alive but her family sent a servant on a clandestine (and successful) mission to rescue her.

Recognize the crane and tortoise statues...they symbolize yin & yang

Going to the Princess's temple.

The inside of Princess Huyen Tran's temple

Rawr.

King Tran Nhan Tong lived quite a different life than his predecessors and successors, he renounced his claim to the throne after fifteen years and became a monk, devoting the remainder of his life to Buddhism. So there is this really big happy Buddha on site:

so big, so happy!

After a photo shoot with my new, big, happy friend we continued the ascent up Ngu Phong Mountain (yup, a mountain because it is a whole 108 meters above sea level). At the top is the Hoa Binh bell. I had the chance to strike the bell, symbolizing, "Peace for the world and happiness for humankind." I guess usually the view from the top is amazing, one can see all of Hue. But the weather has been rather miserable for the past few weeks– honestly it has rained every day. So I only saw fog at the top. Oh well.

The foggy walk up.

I think this man's job is to strike the bell all day.

Then we made the treacherous trip back down. I was wearing flip-flops and the stairs were very slippery. I managed to stay on my feet the whole time but had some close calls. Need I say that since then I have chosen to wear my trusty (but smelly) tevas around. I don't even know why I was wearing my flip-flops, I usually only use them as shower shoes. I learned my lesson.

Fancy dragon banisters.

Me & my pet dragon. If you noticed, I am wearing
pants, a sweater, and a scarf because it has been rather
cold here in Hue. And by cold I actually mean hovering
just about 60, windy, and rainy. Brrrr.

Okay back to work on my paper. My presentation is in three days and my paper is due in five. Ay, ay, ay. But looking on the bright side– Mikala came to Hue today! Yay fellow Mainer :) We have been motivating each other all day long. Or something like that.