Hue City

Most places ive been to have had `City tours`where you go and see the main sights in the city. I decided that i would do one in Hue because it is Vietnam`s old capital city and it was only $8.

I didnt want to spend another night in Hue because the bus to Hoi An leaves at 1 pm and it was noon that day. The reception at the hostel said that I could do have the tour that afternoon and then the other half in the morning and be back in time to catch the bus. I thought it was a great idea so i signed up. An hour and a half later a girl on a motor bike came to pick me up to take me to the tour group. She handed me a helmet and I hopped on the back of her bike and she drove off. She was a really nice girl and we talked a lot on the way to the citadel.

 Once we got there she introduced me to Jerry, our tour guide. I got there just as he was starting to talk about its restoration. The citadel covers a huge area and lots of it was damaged during the war. We went though most of it and heard about all the different families that lived there and saw many artifacts and what not. Then i got dropped back off at the hostel. 

The next morning I got up and went to wait for the bus to pick me up. it was 10 min late so i went and asked the ladys at the reception, they said it was coming. Then 15 min later i asked again, they said it was coming. Then another 15 min  later it still wasnt there and they said they would call. They said the tour company forgot to come pick me up and they would send someone. A while later the same girl on the motorbike came to pick me up. She proceeded to tell me that the hostel had not called them that morning to confirm to pick me up. I knew those reception girls were looking nervous when i kept asking them. Anyways i had another nice chat with the lady on the bike as she drove me to one of the tombs that we were to visit. I was so late that i already missed the 1st tomb but wasnt too worried because we were going to see 2 more after that.

artist painted the ceiling with his feet

Most of the emperors of Vietnam had tombs build for them and the guide said that most of them were very similar except for a couple. It was pretty cool, Lots of stairs because it was built up on the top of a hill. Some people complained about the number of stairs and decided not to go up to the main chamber because there was too many. (less than 100). But i just though more room for me. The tomb wasnt that fantastic it was just kind of cool to look at, nothing really amazing. It had a large stone tablet at the front of it that documented the kings life on it.

The third (my second) tomb that we visited was supposedly the best one. It was for the 12th emperor who was the favourite one. He `loved the people so much` - Guide repeated many times. And the stores he told proved that. When building the tomb he put someone in charge of paying the workers to make sure that they were happy because he didnt like un happy citizens. One day the guy in charge decided not to pay the people so the king had him put to death and then got someone new to make sure that the people were paid. When we went to see the actual tomb part where his body was buried Jerry told us that his body wasnt actually buried in the stone building, That he was actually buried some where around the area but no one was allowed to know. There is a very nice lake at his tomb and in the spring time the whole thing is covered with lotus flowers. When we were there is just looked like dead weeds but Jerry ensured us that it was beautiful in the spring and summer time.

Afterwords we went to a matrial arts show. very fast probabl only about 15 min long. Wasnt to amazing, very poor stunt fighting. The only cool thing was that one of the guys broke 7 or something ceramic roof tiles with his head. Kinda of impressive i guess.

Next stop was the perfume Pagoda. Again nothing really impressive just kinda cool to look at. very tall and it was on a hill on a river bend so it could be seen all around. In the back there was a big field with lots of different plants and a forest on either side. There was some buildings that told about the monks in the area. One of the buildings contained an old blue vintage car. There was a story on the wall behind it that told how a monk drove his car into the middle of an intersection and then got out and lit himself on fire. Then he sat there and burned to death in protest of injustice towards the monks. There was a pretty graphic picture on the wall to go along with it.

 We finished our morning with a `dragon boat` back into town. It was a 30 min ride along a main river with not too much interesting on it. Not sure if there was supposed to be something more on the boat that ours was missing but i just spent the time writing in my notebook. Luckily the boat stopped just 2 streets away from the hostel which was good because i hadnt yet worked out how i was going to get back.

For more pictures click on the Hue album on the left.

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