HUE TO DA NANG

(Vietnam Vacation Part 6)

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Hue is a major stop on any tourist circuit of Vietnam. A whole section of the town is devoted to hotels, restaurants, travel agencies and other businesses for tourists. This big tourist city had a number of "firsts" in store for us. We started hearing the refrain, “You, buy something from me”. It provided a great contrast to the semi off the beaten track towns we had visited earlier. Our first bathroom with a shower curtain. Finally, we could shower without getting the entire bathroom floor wet! Our first pay parking lot for bicycles (500 dong/5¢ each). The first time we have ever seen someone in a band play the teacups! . Read on for a couple more "firsts".

Hue was Vietnam’s capital from 1802 to 1945 under the Nguyen Dynasty. Emperor Gia Long (ruled 1802-1820) built a huge walled citadel, inside of which was the Imperial City, modeled after the Forbidden City in Beijing. Unfortunately, fire, termites, time and the American (Vietnam) War have reduced the grandness of the Imperial City. We saw eleven buildings, with more being restored. They were large, simple, elegant, spacious, wooden structures surrounded by formerly grand gardens. The decorations and adornments of the buildings were their outstanding feature. Most of the buildings had large, colorful mosaics running along the roof ridges. The mosaics were made from pieces of porcelain dishes. They must have broken a lot of dishes!

Seven of the thirteen Nguyen dynasty emperors had Royal Mausoleums built. We set out on bicycles hoping to check out a couple tombs and a few other sites. As we were biking out of Hue, a woman on a moto slowed down and started talking to us. She invited us to her house for tea, saying it was on our way. We decided not to instinctively say no, but go along and see what happened. A minor mistake, but not a tragedy…

At her house, the woman gave us fresh pineapple and tea and her daughter came out. She spoke excellent English and told us she was studying to be a translator. We talked about jobs, the economy, the school system, etc. Most of what she said confirmed what we had been told elsewhere. Jobs are hard to find and don’t pay well, unless you work for an international company. After graduating college, she expects it to take a year to find a job. Primary school education is free but students must buy their own books, supplies and school uniform. After primary school, families have to pay all costs, including tuition of about $3 per month. This may not seem like a lot, but to a subsistence rice farmer, it can be a significant portion of their cash income.

Pretty soon, the reason her mom wanted us to visit became clear. The daughter said her university fees were about $60 a month, she had a payment due and her mother didn’t have enough money. We were told anything we could do to help would be appreciated. While we felt sympathy for her situation, we resented being befriended and diverted under false pretences and we wondered if her story was true. In Vietnam, as in other poor countries, Westerners are viewed as wildly wealthy potential sources of cash and scams are common. We gave her 20,000 Dong ($1.25), wished her well and returned to our now abbreviated mausoleum tour.

Minh Mang, the second emperor in the Nguyen dynasty ruled from 1820 to 1840. His mausoleum took ten thousand workmen three years to build. It included Sung An Temple for worshipping him and his queen and a large stone stele recording his accomplishments. An impressive honor guard of stone military mandarins, civilian mandarins, horses and elephants lined the courtyard. Basically, it was a very large, nice looking cemetery!

We biked from Ming Mang’s towards Tu Duc’s mausoleum looking for a place to eat lunch. We were about eight miles outside of Hue and our prospects looked pretty bleak until Lois spotted something hopeful. The lunch turned out to be average, but the setting was great. Built over a pond were a number of private dining areas, connected by bamboo walkways. After lunch, we passed another interesting spot, a village where they made and sold incense.

Tu Duc, the fourth emperor in the Nguyen dynasty ruled from 1848 to 1883 and built his mausoleum between 1864 and 1867. It was a beautiful, thirty acre park with towering pine trees, lakes throughout, a simple yet attractive meditation pavilion overlooking the water, palaces and temples. He needed to spend a lot of time resting since he had one hundred and four wives! Unfortunately, most of the buildings were in major need of renovation. We hoped that our admission fees went to that purpose.

The next day, we took a bike ride to Thien Mu Pagoda. It is most well known as the residence of the Venerable Thich Quang Doc, the monk who drove to Saigon in 1963 and set himself on fire to protest the South Vietnamese government’s excesses and President Diem’s regime. Built on a hill, overlooking the Perfume River, was a seven story, seventy foot high stupa, followed by a gate and two pagodas. There were twelve very colorful Gods in one of the pagodas. Behind that was a Buddhist monastery with well tended gardens. It seemed to us to be a great place for meditation and study. We contemplated going to our next destination.

From Hue, we took a first class train to Da Nang. It was air conditioned, with cushioned seats, sort of like an airplane but with much more leg room. All the seats faced the same way which gave it a less gregarious atmosphere than the second class train. The pretty ride followed tracks which hugged the mountains along the coast and went through long tunnels. A lunch of rice, mustard greens and meat was included.

Our main reason for stopping in Da Nang was the Cham Museum. The Champa Kingdom existed to varying degrees from the second to the seventeenth century. They controlled parts of what is today Central and Southern Vietnam and Cambodia. The Cham museum houses most of the Cham artwork that remains in Vietnam. We saw stunning stonework, mostly religious in nature. The Hindu deities were reminiscent of the sandstone carving we saw at Ankor Wat in Cambodia (see Khmer Tales our 2002 trip). 

From Da Nang, we took a local bus for the thirty five kilometer ride to Hoi An. The ticket taker gave us the front seats, next to the driver. He thought it was their lucky day, with two tourists in tow. He guessed wrong, because a minute later, the police pulled them over. They apparently got a ticket which meant that they were now behind schedule and losing money on the trip. The fare was 7,000 Dong (50¢), but when it came time to charge us, he wanted 100,000 Dong!

On bus trips, we would determine the fare by asking locals beforehand. When someone collected our fare, Paul would give them exact change. That worked about half the time. The other half of the time, a negotiation began. Typically they asked for double the fare. Paul would just smile and say “too much”. They would insist it was correct and that they charged Vietnamese the same. We would hold fast and they would quote a new price, again insisting that was what Vietnamese paid. Usually, we stuck to our guns and paid what people had told us was the correct fare. Once, someone threatened to throw us off the bus, the driver stopped the bus, but the door didn’t open. We called their bluff and ended up paying the right fare.

This lengthy discussion started with a bus from Da Nang to Hoi An where the ticket taker asked for 100,000 Dong and Paul offered 7,000 Dong. The next request was 50,000 Dong and then 25,000 Dong. Maybe Paul shouldn’t have laughed so hard at these requests. The next thing we knew, the bus stopped and we were told to get off. Thrown off our first bus in Vietnam; the indignity of it all! We waited five minutes, got on the next bus, were charged 7,000 Dong and proceeded to Hoi An without any further blows to our pride.  

Our trip is just about over now. We are currently in Hong Kong before heading home. There will be one or two more travelogues to go, covering Hoi An, Nha Trang, Saigon and Hong Kong.

Paul & Lois
Hong Kong
February 21, 2007

Vietnam Vacation Part 5                 Vietnam Vacation Part 7

 

All content is copyright © Paul Schneider, 2007.