Our plan today was to visit the Dalat Cathedral and to then go to the Emperor's Summer Palace but plans are made to be changed. Our Grab had gone only a short distance along the main road when we came to a standstill. Lots of police were present. Traffic was at a standstill and a detour was needed. Of course the detour then became clogged with traffic so, after sitting still for fifteen minutes, I asked the driver via the Translate App, if he could take us to the Palace instead. A U turn was then executed and we were off to the Palace. At this point I got a message on the Grab app noting that we were off the registered route and asking if I was safe. Well done Grab! No wonder Grab is a trusted app in several countries.
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| Path at Bao Dai's Palace |
The Grab dropped us off outside the impressive iron gates of the Summer Palace which is situated on a hill in a very pleasant, leafy part of the city. In front of us was a beautiful park with a wide path lined with what looked like melaleuca trees towering over neat, colourful flower gardens. |
So many different flowers - and a deer
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The antique rickshaw was parked beside the ticket office was for show only, no rides. We would have to walk! The day was sunny and comfortably warm, so walking in this tranquil park was going to be very pleasant. |
| rickshaw at Emperor's Palace, Dalat |
There was a Korean women's tour group visiting and I had been amused on arrival to see them walking in single file after their tour guide who was carrying a pole with his company's flag as if being a flag bearer at the Olympic Games. Now they were scattered around the gardens, taking photos and having a good time. To my surprise I found myself being ushered firmly into a photo with them. I don't like having my photos taken but there was nothing I could do without causing offence so, after obliging, I returned the compliment [?] and took one of them.
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| Emperor Bao Dai's Palace and Garden |
I was surprised to see that the palace was far from palatial and, once we were inside, found that it had actually been built between 1933 - 1938 by a French aristocrat, Robert Clement Bougery, for his own use and had only 25 rooms. Bao Dai apparently bought it from him and lived here from until 1945.
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| Ground Floor |
The ground floor was the reception area where foreign dignitaries and were entertained while the upper floor was the Emperor's private domain. After his first wife left to go to the ancient capital and centre of the Nguyen Dynasty, Hue, to live he continued living here with his second wife.
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| The Nguyen Family Tree |
The palace has been renovated but still contains memorabilia from the Emperor's time. A very interesting audio, delivered in Vietnamese, English and Korean provided information about the Nguyen lineage and history.
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| Throne room |
Despite this royal life, presumably full of privilege, Bao Dai seems to me to be a bit of a sad character. Sent to France at the tender age of nine, he was only thirteen when his father Khai Dinh died and he became Emperor. He continued his education in France returning in 1936, aged twenty, to ascend the throne and to marry his first wife with whom he produced three daughters and two sons. In his lifetime he had eight wives with four of them being Vietnamese, three French and one Chinese. He had a total of thirteen children. Wow! In the twentieth century too!
As Emperor, he was regarded as being ineffectual and a puppet of the French. After the French were chased out by the Japanese in 1945 his influence and power became even less. When the Japanese were defeated in World War II, Bao Dai was ousted via a allegedly rigged referendum organised by a United States supported Ngo Dinh Diem. After this forced abdication, Bao Dai was given a nominal position of advisor for the North of the Country and Diem took up residence at this Summer Palace. While on a diplomatic mission to China Bao Dai seized his chance and fled, firstly to Hong Kong and later to France where he lived without ever returning to Vietnam until his death in 1997.
After lunch at the cafe we took a leisurely stroll around the back of the palace and garden, noting the heliport installed for Diem who also had a secret tunnel connecting it to the palace. Some say that the entrance is hidden behind a bookshelf.
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| Garden at Emperor's Palace, Dalat |
We were particularly intrigued by this bright blue flower and to learn that it is related to the common runner bean. Strongylodon macrobotrys, the jade or emerald vine, is native to the Phillipines and grows in countries such as Sri Lanka too. I'm thinking that it will do well in our garden at home too.
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| the Jade or emerald vine, Strongylodon macrobotrys |
Later in our trip we will be in Hue, the centre of the Nguyen Dynasty, where we will visit the Tomb of Khai Dinh - Bao Dai's father's tomb. Bao Dai's own tomb will not be such a grand one. He was buried in Paris.
Thus ended the Nguyen Dynasty.
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