Hue, pronounced “way” is a major city in the middle of the east coast of Vietnam.
More than 2000 years ago, this region was part of the Nam Viet Empire. The realm of Champa was the ruling party which had reigned over this region for 17 centuries (quite a long time in anyone’s books).
In the 1300s, the King of Champa handed the region over to the Vietnamese. Hue came into being in 1307 after the Champa King Jaya Sinhavarman III handed the city over to Vietnam in exchange for marrying a princess of the Tran dynasty. Now that’s what I call a land swap.
The name Hue originated from the mispronunciation of the term Hoa. In the 19th century, Hue was the capital of the Nguyen dynasty, the region having been under French colonists since 1883. This period produced some beautiful buildings in the city, including the Citadel.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Gia Long, the first Emperor of the Nguyen dynasty, carried out a large scale planning and new construction, making Hue the Capital of the whole country.
We hired a driver and set off from Hoi An via Da Nang, then on to the Hai Van Pass bound for Hue. The spectacular scenery is something to behold (as are the hundreds of cows on the road), not to mention full loaded semi-trailers on both sides of the road (up and down).
The photos are of that short journey. The next blog will cover the Hue Citadel and other stuff.
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My interest in photography goes back as far, if not further, than I can remember. My Grandfather had a thing called a box brownie and i remember being amazed at how it recorded history. I was given a 120 film camera when I was about 10 as evidenced by some black and white photos I recently found of my sister when she was 5 or so - she turned 40 in 2008.
So from recording history, through the passage of an EOS 5 film into digital and moving into a desire to 'make images' rather than take photos, I find myself here.
Photography. "For the thrill of it."
Photography. "It's where life is happening."
Photography. "When time stands still."
Photography. "Maybe it's just about being there again." 
