Vong Canh Hill

Seen from far away, Vọng Cảnh Hill is more than a green swell on the skyline of Hue. It is the stretch of hills that gives the old capital depth behind its river and its walls.

The hill stands 43 meters high, right beside the stretch of the Perfume River that is considered the most beautiful. From the top, the river winds around the foot of the hill. It lies soft as a ribbon of green silk, let down across a vast pine forest.

This is no ordinary hill. Long ago, emperors of the Nguyễn dynasty chose this spot to stop and take in the view. The Nguyễn dynasty was Vietnam's last royal dynasty, which reigned from 1802 to 1945. From where those rulers stood, the view is the one they had hundreds of years ago. The river hugs the hill, and a deep green pine forest spreads wide. Hidden among the trees are the tombs of the very emperors who once gazed at this scene.

Around the hill lies the group of tombs of the Nguyễn emperors. Up here, a person can try to guess which emperor's tomb lies on the far side of the pine forest. It is a question children enjoy and grown-ups enjoy too, because it turns a look at the view into a real discovery. Children like that question, and so do grown-ups, because it turns a sightseeing trip into a real discovery.

The name Vọng Cảnh says it all. Vọng means to look far into the distance. Cảnh means scenery. A hill with that name needs no introduction, because it explains itself through the view it gives.

At 43 meters, with the wind coming through the pines and the river bending at the foot of the hill, Hue does not come to a person through a page in a book or a photograph. It comes through one's own eyes.