Day 7: Hue
Hue is a miserable place. Some like it for its architecture (full of ancient ruins) but for me and kh, it was extremely depressing. And also for Jack, who went backpacking in Vietnam before,"Let's just say Hue is my least favourite place." Unfortunately for us, we could not skip this city as it is located at the half-way point between Nha Trang and Hanoi, and we didn't want to waste our daylight hours on the train.
Upon arrival at the Hue train station, we were swamped by Vietnamese people shoving us pamplets and business cards of the hotels they work at. It was cold and wet, and the rain was getting heavier. Kh and I quickly decided on one and got our asses out of there.
The hotel was only US$8/night, but we booked it for half a day at US$5 just to put down our bags and bathe. Also booked our day tours there for US$11/person. We were just in time for the day tour! There was no way we were ever gonna stay a night in that hotel though. It smells!
First stop: Incense and conical hat factory
These women were like kinda fake lah. They were just doing their stuff, making the incense, sewing the hat... and when the tour guide ended his commentary, they immediately got up on their feet and started selling really aggressively. They were like puppets who came alive. I was quite taken aback by their sudden change in behaviour. -_-"
The joss sticks were made in many different colours. This is made of "perfume incense" because the powder that it is made of has a special fragrance (rather choking if you ask me). So the lady in the first pic was trying to sell packs of joss sticks to these 2 French girls in our tour group. And I think the French girls thought it was like aromatherapy or something. They bought 3 packs each! And I think it was about US$40. Freakin' ex!
To us, they were the joke of the day. Whenever we pass by a temple, we would say,"Oh that's what the French girls will be smelling..hehe" I can say those 2 girls are really sua ku... Because the "fragrance" is in the powder, but when you burn it, it smells just like any other incense!
Next stop: Tu Duc Tomb
Entrance of Tu Duc Tomb
As you can see, the tomb is in a very bad shape. It was very poorly preserved. And the numerous wars it saw certainly did not help.
This tomb was originally built by one of Vietnam's emperor in the 1860s. The whole tomb is really like a palace. It was one long walk before we finally reach the end of the "palace".
Beautiful landscape in the tomb
This is where the body of the emperor is supposed to reside according to the blueprint. However, French excavators uncovered nothing. It is believed that the emperor had ordered his body to be hidden elsewhere (to prevent incidences like this). Maybe under the lake, maybe in some hidden chamber, maybe not even in this place at all. It was very mystifying. Suddenly I felt like Lara Croft. Hah.
The tour guide told us that the person who helped transport the emperor's body to his burial place (according to LP, it was all 200 of his servants), had to be beheaded after that. This is to protect the secret, and obviously they protected it very well... in a rather cruel way. His 130 concubines were also beheaded because concubines must die when the emperor dies. And we're talking about 130 very smart women (like scholars) here. The emperor had a taste in smart women.
Tomb of Dong Khanh
We were advised by the hotel that among all the 3 tombs in our day tour, only Tu Duc was worth going (and it was bad enough). Kh and I decided to skip it, as we had to pay an entrance fee of 55,000d! We told another european couple what the hotel told us but they insisted on checking it out. They came out shortly after and told us they won't be going for the 3rd one. -_-"
Tomb of Thieu Tri
Buffet lunch
After lunch we proceeded to the citadel, which is like a huge part of Hue. Most of the people in Hue live within the citadel itself. It is so large that even the Imperial Palace was built inside it.
Inside the citadel
The entrance of the Imperial Palace
Even the tree needs a steel brace.
Real bullet holes!
The Imperial Library
It is the only building in the whole citadel that is not destroyed by war. However, it was closed recently as the building might collapse anytime now. So basically, everything else we saw were reconstructed versions of the old palace. Apparently, the United States also donated US$10,000 for the reconstruction of this place. That's a very small amount if you ask me, considering how much damage they had done.
The ancestral hall
Inside the imperial palace
Thien Mu Pagoda
Once you choose to be a monk, you'll be a monk for life.
After which, we had an hour long boat ride down Perfume River on a dragon boat. It was seriously a snooze. Most people on the boat were sleeping. I was reading the OK! magazine that somebody left behind.
Their version of the dragon boat.
Our captain. lol
Perfume River. It does not smell like perfume at all. Apparently, it is just a fancy name given to attract tourists. And I'm not making this up.
It was raining and it was really cold. But it's not everywhere you'll get to find Celano MANGO icecream. We just had to get them.
Dinner @ Stop and Go Cafe. Very friendly folks. Kh insisted on having the banana pancake.
On board the night express train (14hrs) to Hanoi.
Next up, Vietnam 2008: Hanoi (Part 1)...
