Today's adventure started early to avoid the heat - and it is hot and humid here! So, we all met in the foyer at 7:30 AM after having had breakfast. We were asked to select motorbike keys from a helmet in homage to swingers' parties of the 70s as a way of being allocated to bikes. Picking the key picked your driver (rider) who doubled you around for the day. Helmet on (little more than a bike helmet) and away we go into the crazy Vietnam traffic. It's not as chaotic or as heavy in Hue as it is in Hanoi, but the same road rules apply (or don't apply, whichever way you want to think about it).
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| Me with my driver, Than |
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| Most of the crew on the bikes |
After the first couple of minutes of panic, having not been a pillion on a motorbike (scooter) for over 20 years) it became a real highlight of the trip. It's a great way to see the city because you're not going all that fast and because you're on a bike your part of the view, not looking at it through a windscreen. And they wound us through the suburbs of Hue which showed us a different style of living. These were middle-class and upper-middle-class places that we went past (we were told later). They are quite recognisable as quiet suburbs in any city, with narrow streets, small blocks, and fenced to the boundary with free-standing houses. And quiet, especially compared to the city blocks we've been visiting.
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| Courtyard in the pagoda looking back to the main gate |
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| Spire outside the pagoda; seven layers is traditional | Serene garden in the pagoda |
We eventually wound our way around to the Thien Mu pagoda. This is a Buddhist place of worship and study that has been here for centuries. It is also, famously, the monastery from which the first Buddhist monk to self-immolate in protest against the government in 1963. It's a fascinating old place and is very heavily visited by tourists.
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| The Thien Mu Pagoda | The shrine in the pagoda |
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| Crypt where they bury monks | The rear of the front gate of the pagoda |
We then boarded a "dragon boat" for a gentle boat ride up-river, where we got back on the bikes and rode around to the tomb of the fourth Emperor, Tu Duc.
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| The Perfume River | The Dragon Boat prow (one of two) |
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| More history from Tham (in red) |
The tomb is a beautiful park in Hue, where the Emporer chose to be buried. The exact location is not known (to stop grave robbing of the body for destruction, apparently), but a formal tomb is shown too. Tham gave us another history lesson after testing us on the stuff she'd told us before about emperors. Then we got to wander around the park. [Update: I've added in some more photos here and above.]
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| Scenes around the Tomb of Tu Duc |
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| That fig dish |
Back on the bikes, we headed around to another Buddhist pagoda for a vegetarian lunch. It was really nice. One dish was steamed fig served on rice crackers. Really nice and no one would believe it wasn't chicken looking at it. After lunch, we were back on the bikes for our last ride back to the hotel. I put my head down for a short nap and surfaced 2.5 hours later! I am definitely not getting enough sleep.
After publishing the initial version of this post, I just made it down to meet a part of the group to go out to dinner at a local family's home, where the woman of the house would cook for us. There are many photos of the night taken by different folks and shared in our tour Whatsapp group. I'll add them later. For now, I'll just add two photos that I took on the way to the dinner.
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| Crazy, narrow alleys down which we walked | The group arriving at the house of our guest |
The meal commenced with the attentions of a four-year-old and a two-year-old; cousins/niece and nephew of the family. The four-year-old girl, in particular, was a huge favourite of the women in the group and a boisterous, happy little thing.
Out hostess was a most excellent cook and managed a banquet for 10 with no apparent effort. Having said that, we finished the night when AK (Anastasia) caught her falling asleep in the chair she was sitting in with us! But it didn't finish before her 14-year-old son did three "close up magic card tricks" - he was excellent! I'd seen one of the tricks he did before so knew how he did it (a simple card-counting/shuffling thing that he pulled off with easy aplomb) but the other two were pure wizardry and he was flawless in his routine. Very impressive and real fun.
We eventually wound our way around to the Thien Mu pagoda. This is a Buddhist place of worship and study that has been here for centuries. It is also, famously, the monastery from which the first Buddhist monk to self-immolate in protest against the government in 1963. It's a fascinating old place and is very heavily visited by tourists.
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