Hue, Vietnam
Amidst unseasonal downpour, our motorbike tour through Hue was transformed into a bus trip instead, as we refused to spend the day inside. We started off at a bustling food market, where fruits, vegetables, and intestines were all on display. Here was also an agricultural museum, where a playful 86 year old stooped-backed Vietnamese woman showed us how they harvest rice, singing and dancing all the while. I tried the bitternut leaf and seed she was chewing on, and it was reminiscent of the buffalo we had ridden a few days prior. Spitting it out into the river looked like a crime scene, and my tongue was red for a few hours.
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| After the bitternut |
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| Kate getting her fortune told |
From there, we moved on to the tomb of one of the last kings. The monarch has since died out in Vietnam, and considering this massive and elaborate tomb was paid for by the unwilling taxpayers, it is understandable why. The artwork was beautiful, and certainly excessive. When the king died, his body was buried oriented in a particular direction, and the precise location had to be kept secret to prevent enemies tampering with the direction and ruining his chances of a peaceful afterlife. Everyone who worked on the tomb was a prisoner on death row, and killed right after the job was done to keep the secret.
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| More fog at the tomb |
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| The artist used pieces of dishware and vases to create a mosaic throughout the entire building |
After visiting a shop making incense and trying our hands at it, we went to the royal citadel. As the family has died out, it is no longer used as a home, but is now a UNESCO heritage site.
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| Rolling sandalwood incense |
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| Group shot in the front courtyard of the citadel |
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| Another pagoda, more rain |
Last part of the trip was a peaceful dragonboat ride on the Perfume River, named because of the incense manufacturing along the shores.
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| Becca poking her head out over the front |
In the evening, we had dinner with a local family, and had the best spring rolls of my life. The big group of cousins came running in after the meal for high fives and hand games, then treated us to a few songs, including "Happy and you know it" and "Gangnam Style".
We finished the evening at a club called Brown Eyes, where the waiters kept lighting drinks on fire, playing Jenga with us, and pulling everyone onto the dance floor.
Today is a quiet day, and we depart for the 14 hour train to Hanoi at 2:30. Time to go stock up on snacks and games!
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| Our bunk on the last train, with Liz, Pete, Becca, Kerianne, and Lou taking the picture |
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