October 5 - Vietnam: Huê
Mr Tahn and Dao picked us up at the hotel at 8:30 on motorbikes which is how anyone gets anywhere in Vietnam. I rode on the back of Mr Tahn's bike and Jon on the back of Doa's. Today was very overcast, but we had a fabulous time.
Riding on the back of a motorbike is no easy task. You can't hold onto the driver, because we didn't know these guys at all (and besides, no one else hangs on like that). There are "oh shit" bars on the back of each motorbike so this is what we held onto until we got comfortable and could ride without holding onto anything. We did have to resort to the "oh shit" bars whenever they sped up or took an especially sharp turn. By the way, there are no such things as helmets here in Vietnam.
Market
First we stopped by a small market with all sorts of vegetables, fish, and other stuff. It wasn't as big as the market we went to last night, but I think that's what made it more special. We didn't spend too long there, but hopped back onto our motorbikes and sped off through the different streets of Huê. There were a lot of people out, and most everyone yelled, "Hello!" or at least smiled when they saw us.
Royal Arena
We drove for about 20 minutes through dirt roads and villages until we pulled up to an old stone structure. We walked in and it quickly became apparent that we were in the middle of a small arena. Mr Tahn said that this was built in the 1850s for tiger and elephant fights by the then-Emperor of Vietnam. The Vietnamese are superstitious about this sort of thing, and tigers are bad luck while elephants are good luck. So the fights were rigged in that the tigers were de-clawed before facing the elephant, and this way the elephant always won the fight which the people of course loved.
The arena was very overgrown, and Mr Tahn says that no one ever comes here except for his tours. So this is why there was no admission charge and the grass looked like no one had ever stepped on it.
Lookout Hill
We drove through many, many more backroads and fields before we reached a massive cemetery. We drove through the gate and up the hill to see a beautiful view of the Perfume River and various Mountains. On the river there were many fishermen in little Vietnamese boats and some wooden barges driving up and down the river. Mr Tahn said that the other side of the river was Laos, and that this hill was used by the South Vietnamese in 1969 during the war. Sure enough, there were some concrete bunkers mixed in with all the gravestones. Regardless, the view was spectacular and we got some great shots.
We drove again through the back-roads and through villages, many of which had old ruins of beautiful stone pillars and temples. But we didn't stop at any of these. They were all crumbling and overgrown with weeds, and the only thing to see was the mosaic designs on the stone. Instead, we drove toward a monastery to hear the monks pray.
On the way there, we passed many stalls with beautiful incense sticks displayed out front. The sticks were of different colors and were fanned out to catch the eye, which they did. Mr Tahn pulled over to one of the stalls where we could have a drink, look at the different incense sticks, and watch the little girl roll the incense sticks in some sticky cinnamon spice. It was very cool, and we allowed ourselves be talked into buying some sticks of incense for the monastery.
But when we got to the monastery, we found that the monks weren't supposed to pray until 12:00 and we were there at 10:30. So we went to Tu Duc's Tomb instead.
Tu Duc's Tomb
Huê is famous for its tombs. Many of the Emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) built their exquisite mausoleums here. Emperor Tu Duc reigned from 1848-1883, had 104 wives, and countless concubines. He designed this tomb, and it was built between 1864-1867 through a bit of forced labor. It has different buildings, temples, pavilions, tombs, and a large lake, and is surrounded by a large octagonal wall. After it was constructed, he often came here with his wives and concubines to hunt, sail, or just sit with his women and compose poetry. (Something Jon often does when the moment strikes him).
We walked around the grounds for quite a while, admiring the mosaics and the beautiful area. It drizzled for just a bit, but we barely noticed. At 11:30, we left to find Mr Tahn and Dao and to go to the monastery.
Monastery
The monastery wasn't very large, but we didn't come for sightseeing. By the time we got there and took our shoes off, the monks began chanting after their lunch. They stood up from their tables and walked across to the prayer hall - chanting the entire time. It was pouring rain, and Jon and I were happy just sitting on the stoop watching them walk and chant. They each wore saffron robes, and one or two looked at us and smiled. But all in all it was a pretty solemn event. Jon and I thought we were lucky to be the only people here watching this, but when we looked through the prayer hall we saw some Westerners on the other side from where we came in.
Prayer lasted 10 minutes and then they all got up and left. This was convenient, because it had stopped raining by this time. Jon and I had lit only three incense sticks, so I handed the rest (about 20 of them) to a monk who was closing the door on his way out.
Lunch
We were starving by this time, so they took us to Ong Tao Restaurant. The restaurant didn't have much ambiance, but the food was good. I ordered shrimp and garlic, which was served with five whole jumbo shrimp which were looking at me even though they were dead - but we yummy once we peeled them! Jon ordered the "dipped shrimp" which we didn't know what it was until they brought it. When it was served, it came with a little kerosene stove on which sat a bowl of vegetable broth. We poured the raw, peeled, shrimp into the broth and waited for the few minutes it took to cook. Then we took the shrimp out and wrapped them in rice paper along with some vegetables. It was very, very good!
Mr Tahn's House
After lunch, Mr Tahn took us to his new house which he had built about six months ago. It's not so much a house, as it is a dormitory for students going to the university nearby. He has eight rooms laid out motel-style, and his room is separate in the center of the little compound. There are 20 students staying here, and three of them were in his room when we arrived. None of them spoke English, and Mr Tahn told us that he built this in order to invest in the university housing market. Many of the students who come here live in houses with 80+ students.
Wow. And I thought the Red House with 14 of us (my third year) was crazy!
Thanh Toan Covered Bridge
We got back onto our motorbikes and sped through the back-roads again. This time, we drove about 20 minutes out into the countryside. We crossed through some fields and over some very, very bumpy dirt roads that looked (and felt) like they hadn't been used in years. But this was probably one of the best parts of the trip. Everywhere we looked there were hills, fields, buffalo, and an occasional farmer who waved at us.
We finally arrived at our destination: a beautiful Vietnamese covered bridge. It wasn't very large, but it was covered in gorgeous designs and mosaics. The interesting thing about all the mosaics we've seen is that the "tiles" are really pieces of broken bowls and plates. Many of them are the white plates with blue ink designs on them, but many of the tiles have other colorful designs on them too. The pieces are put into concrete or plaster in a design of some kind, and the effect is beautiful. This bridge also had pieces of brown and green glass and I was really inspired to try this when we get home. (If I still remember about it).
The bridge is in a little village filled with chickens and ducks, and a little girl who followed Jon around practicing how to say "HELLO!". Other than that, the only other people here were those that were napping in the shady bridge. It was a lovely setting.
Conical Hats
Back onto the motorbikes for our last visit. To get to this place, we had to drive down a narrow path next to a railroad and I wondered what would happen if a train happened on us. But we were only on it for about 5 minutes when we pulled into a little quad where people were making different things. One of the houses had people making paper horses and colorful trees. These are used for funeral ceremonies to help the deceased into the next world.
Another house had 3 ladies making conical hats. These are the hats that you picture when you think of rice fields and Asia. And the people here really do wear them! They're everywhere. The hats are made from palm leaves positioned over a flat wooden cone structure and the leaves are sewn on. Huê is also famous for "shadow hats". In these hats the women sew some paper cut-outs which - when held up to the sun - show silhouetted pictures. The women can make two hats per day, and it was incredible to see the amount of work that went into them.
The women were laughing at us, but we didn't mind. We liked sitting there watching them make these hats, and we enjoyed entertaining them. It was a nice way to spend 15 minutes or so. They insisted that I take off my hat so they could see my hair - which they laughed at - but then we took of Jon's hat so they could see his hair - and they laughed even harder. We stayed with them for a little while, until one of them decided to ask me for my earrings, watch, and bracelet. By then, the moment of peace was gone and we decided it was time to go.
DInner at Stop and Go Cafe
We chilled out in the room for a bit and then caught a cyclo to the Stop and Go Cafe on the other end of this little town. The Stop and Go is owned by Mr. Do - a silver-haired Vietnamese artist who can only be described as "bohemian". He was thrilled to have us and plied us with questions about where we were from, where we'd been, etc. etc. Dinner was delicious, too. We ordered the Nem Lui, which is a make-your-own spring roll type of thing with skewers of grilled meet and peanut sauce. It lived up to its reputation! We also ordered a beef and potato curry which was yum. Mr Do introduced us to his friend Bill who used to work for the US Army and had even been to the US for training and is now a tour operator in Huê. He was an incredibly cheerful fellow with a great big smile, and he kept referring to Mr Do as a "tree monkey" because Mr Do had spent time in South Vietnam's special forces.
So we were at the Stop and Go for quite a while, talking with Bill and Mr Do and playing the Do's dog, Lulu. Six beers later, we decided it was time to go.
DMZ Bar
We took our cyclo to DMZ bar to see if we could meet up with the Intrepid tour group. There were only 2 other people in the bar, so we each had a beer and started to play pool on the only pool table there. Jon and I are incredibly bad at pool, so we try to practice whenever we get a chance and this was the perfect opportunity! (No one was around to witness our pathetic pool skills.) We were doing all right when the lights suddenly went out on the entire street.
I wandered outside to get some fresh air, and some little girls came up to me and said "Parlez-vous Francais?" I told them that I spoke only a little and they proceeded to chat with me in French. Well, it wasn't really a chat. It was really them trying to get me to buy them Cokes: "Duex Cocas Madame?" So I told them that my husband had all the money. They asked where he was and I said in the bar. Of course, they wanted me to get him and I told them that he wouldn't like that very much. By this time, the owner of the bar had distributed some kerosene lamps and I went back inside. So now I can say that I've fended off the touts in French.
Jon and I played by kerosene lamp for a while, and at one point the owner came over to bring us a bigger lamp. (he thought more light might help our game - was he ever wrong). Some locals came in and it was pretty clear that they were waiting for the pool table, but Jon and I hadn't sunk any balls in quite some time. So we cheerfully handed over our cue sticks and let them have at it. Then we finished our beers, found our cyclo driver, and went back to the hotel to pack.