OCTOBER 2014 : VIETNAM : Day 9 : Hue

                                     

Weather : overnight heavy rain with showers continuing. About 25o - very pleasant. Word on the street is that the monsoon all rains have arrived!

Today our tour of the major sites around Hue - with a bit of cooking thrown in.

Mr Sam, continues to be our trusty (incomprehensible) but thoroughly delightful guide. We walked to the port near the hotel this morning, where our dragon boat awaited.

     

Today we took a trip down the Perfume River, so-called because of the scented flowers and friction which grow along it. Our boat was owned by a family and it wasn't long before I was the target for some heavy shopping pressure by the persuasive wife. I used Mr Sam for my bargaining back up.

       

First stop was the Dong Ba Markets to look at the fresh produce being delivered. Inside the covered area all manner of clothing, produce and homewares is available but our focus today was all the activity outside - all organic, pesticide -free, Mr Sam assured us - best food in the world.

                                  

                                 

Back on the boat for some more shopping-pressure and then rescued by our next stop, the Bao Quoc Pagoda, founded in 1670 and a favourite of the emperors. It has an impressive entrance.

                                 

        

                                                                

And a magnificent garden, established by Japanese monks and now maintained by resident monks and tala trees brought from India.

                                     

Yet more pressure from my boating entrepreneur as we motored to our next stop, an agricultural village and a cooking class. At first we walked around the area admiring the tropical fruit, unusual flowers and homes.

        

Sour fruit

                                   

                            

     

                                  

Back to the river for our cooking class - shredded rice spring rolls, prawn and pork pancakes and fig stir-fried with shrimp and pork.

      

                                 

Then our driver collected us for another few hours of Vietnamese history as we visited another two sites of royal tombs or mausoleums. We have paid attention to every word that Mr Sam has spoken but despite my best efforts to remember facts, my lasting memory is that all emperors love, so love, their country and their people so much and they were the wisest of men ('it is so incredible') and every empress is beautiful, so beautiful, so that she looks like the female Buddha, Quan, and every woman wants to be like her (so much).

The emperor, Tu Doc, created another citadel (begun in 1864) away from the city when there was conflict over French rule in the mid- nineteenth century, even deviously making a secret channel to bury his remains, so that the French couldn't recover them. He built another series of palaces and set it all in peaceful gardens about 10kms from the city. (There is evidence of shelling from both the French and Vietnam wars but the site is being fully restored.)

      

        

The final mausoleum was of Emperor Khai Dinh (1916-1925), who was heavily influenced by French architecture and Art Noveau style. Cement exterior but highly decorated inside - fabulous work.

                                       

       

                                    

                                       

Well, I think that's enough culture and shopping for the day - yes, she won me over in the end and with Mr Sam's help I made a great bargain. We have to agree with him that Hue is a beautiful, oh so beautiful city.

M&M

6/10/2014