I fell in love with Hue like that!

Never been to Hue, but the song “I have been to dreamy Hue a few times. I embrace a sweet love” keeps ringing in my ears, like a passionate invitation. I cannot explain why that land has such a strange attraction for me. I only know that one day, I must set foot there. And then, I came to Hue, fell in love with Hue, and then, without knowing when, this place became a close friend in my life.

Royal court music performance at the Imperial Citadel

The first time I set foot in Hue was on a scorching summer day. Although the weather was hot, because we didn’t have much time, my friend and I still wandered everywhere, from the ancient mausoleums in the suburbs, across Trang Tien Bridge, visited the Imperial City, and then stopped by Thien Mu Pagoda. Hiding in the shade of the pagoda and the rows of cool green trees, I sighed to myself: “Hue is so hot, oh Hue!”. However, when the night fell, Hue took on a gentle, dreamy beauty, a beauty that could not be found anywhere else. That moment deeply engraved in me a first love for Hue.

Perhaps, Hue is most beautiful and “fragrant” at night. At that time, crowds of people flock to the docks to listen to the royal court music echoing on the boats drifting along the Perfume River. When mentioning royal court music, how can I forget that afternoon, in a corner of the Imperial City, where the orchestra and singers in pink ao dai, heads covered with turbans, sang melodies that were both strange and captivating. That scene, that sound, like two halves of a circle, fit together perfectly and completely.

Then one afternoon in Hue, I encountered a beauty that overwhelmed me. On the road shaded by rows of ancient trees along the banks of the Perfume River, a long line of Hue girls in flowing purple ao dai, gently strode, as if practicing for some ceremony. I couldn’t take my eyes off them, even looking back as they passed by: “Why are Hue girls so beautiful and gentle!”. That moment, that image, still lingers in my heart until now. Could it be... that I have fallen in love with Hue?

Perhaps because of love, I keep coming back to Hue. I find another Hue, a Hue bearing the mark of time, hidden in the cool mountains and forests. Running along more than 20 kilometers on a winding mountain road, I reach the top of Bach Ma, where ancient stone castles still stand there, quietly in the middle of the forest. From the observation deck above, I take in all of Hue. Hue seen from here is so different, still Hue, but interspersed between the roofs are vast green patches, the river meanders, the golden sunlight spreads out like honey. I suddenly think, nature has been there for ages, Bach Ma towers, the Perfume River flows endlessly, witnessing Hue's changes through many upheavals. The changes can be great in a person's life, but before the eternity of time, of nature and of the mountains and rivers, everything becomes small.

LE NGOC SON