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Day Forty Two
Sight Seeing around Hue - Minh Mang & Tu Duc Tomb - Pagoda
The bus had pulled up outside some random hotel in Hue and we had all be told to get off the bus as this was the last stop. Me and Andy were surprised as we had been alseep for most of the journey & we had to be woken up to get off the bus. Off the bus we collected our big bags and sat outside the hotel being hassled by a woman to stay in one of her hotel rooms. Luckily for us we had already arranged a hotel in Hue & we had also arranged to be picked up from the bus so all we had to do was sit tight and wait for a person to show up with my name on a card and transport us to the hotel.
It didn't take long before a lady pulled up on a motorbike with the card showing my name on. Now how on earth can three people with big massive backpacks possible fit on this motorbike with the tiniest Vietnamese woman you have ever seen?! Unknown to us she had arranged for a taxi. She led us over to the taxi where we threw all our bags in to the boot & off we went to the hotel. It didn't take us long to get to the hotel as we had checked the location when we booked. In the hotel we had been told that the room wasnt available for us yet and it wont be ready for another couple of hours. We needed to leave our bags in the reception area & they will be taken to the room for us when it is ready.
We decided to have breakfast in the hotel and then just get ready and go out. We had already planned and agreed that we would be visting the two tombs and the pagoda as they where the main attractions in Hue and we were due to leave early the next day for Hoi An. The next decision was how would be getting to the tombs as they where about 35km away. We had spoke to the receptionist and she said that we could hire motorbikes, bicycles or a taxi. Andy is not too keen on getting on any motorbikes we decided to hire bicycles and ride there.
The bikes arrived outside the hotel and off we went. We rode along the rivers edge & we then began to follow the map that the lady at the hotel had gave us. We stopped at this monument & courtyard, there were lots of school boys playing football. We soon realised that there was a big school opposite. We got off the bikes and started to take photographs of the monuments & off the boys playing football. As the ball came over to us Andy ran for the ball & started racing through all the children with the football at his feet. As Ana was taking more photographs a Vietnamese man had approached us & he started to explain that he was waiting for his son at the school & that he was proud for his son to go to the same school that Ho Chi Minh had attended. He began to tell us about Hue & more about VIetnam. He was a very fascinating & interesting man & he seemed to be very wise & keen to tell us about the area.
After speaking to the man he pointed us in the direction we needed in order to cycle to the tombs. We jumped back on the bikes & began to race around the streets. We cycled over a bridge & we came to this massive long road which was steep in places. We needed to pedal hard on the bikes in order to get up the road. There was lots of old shops & people fascinated by us riding past. At the end of the long road we reached a little village. There wasn't much about apart from a old tin shack shops, a few people on little stalls selling fruit & other bits & bobs. We had rode for over an hour when we reached this really stunning looking building. It was very vibrant & colourful & we could see that it was a temple. Unsure of whether we could enter we slowly walked up to the gates with our bikes.
There was two little dogs that were barkly madly at us so we backed off as I didn't fancy my chances of getting a rabies bite. As the dogs were barking this was a little monk that appeared from a building behind the gates. It appeared that this place was a monastery and not a temple. We gestured to the monk to see if we could go in & it didn't seem to be a problem. We put our bikes up on their stands and we walked towards to the entrance of a building. We had to remove our shoes before entering inside but once inside the monastery everything looked perfect and immaculate. We starting to look at all the items inside including the Buddha statue & the shrines. The monk then came over & ushered us to pray with him. He passed us some incense sticks and he lit them for us.
We walked up to the carpet below the Buddha shrine with our palms pressed together in a prayer like postiion and we began to bow our heads. We bowed our heads three times before placing the incense sticks into the shrine. The monk then guided us to stand infront of the shrine with the inscence burning infront & then we proceed to kneel & pray putting our heads to the floor. We also done this three times and the monk seemed really pleased that we had joined in the prayers. The monk then began to show us more of the items that are used to pray. There was a big massive drum & a bowl which gets banned. When the bowl gets banged it makes a really strong gong like noise. We also got to try the prayer instruments out which was nice.
The monks are extremely nice & caring people. They will open there doors to any visitors wishing to learn more but as it was in the countryside they are glad to see western people try their customs. They also didn't request for us to give them any money which is a bonus for us. After finishing looking around we thanked the monk for allowing us in to look around & we jumped back on the bikes to continue the journey to the tombs. Back on the bikes we drove past more & more villages, strangely as we had stop to check the map of what direction we needed to take the man we were speaking to at the school drove past on his motorbike & he pointed us in the direction we needed to go.
We continued to cycle for miles through the countryside till we reached a bigger road which had a big motor way type of bridge running across it. According to the map we needed to head over to that so we did. On the other side we could see a sign for Minh Mang & it said 10km ahead. We continued to cycle for the further 10km waving & shouting hello to all the village children. They are so nice & they always stand on the side of the road & wave until their arms almost fall off. We had reached the bigger town of Minh Mang & there was plenty of places to get drinks & food if you wanted. We had to continue to cycle down this very narrow country lane to get to the entrance of the tomb.
We pulled in to the car park of the tombs & there were little shacks that we offering to look after out bicycles if we agreed to buy a drink off them on the way out the tomb. That was good for us & seemed to be a cheap deal. We put our bikes at the side of the shack, we bought a drink & then we had to walk down another country lane where you weren't allowed to take your bikes. We then paid out entrance fee in to the tomb & we had to walk underneath a little archway. Once in the tomb there was lots of older looking building which looked really old & they had began to go crumbly. There were lots of fancy dragon statues that led up a pathway & in to one of the buildings.
We walked right around the courtyard of the tombs & through lots of other structures. We had to climb up some big steps which then lead us down to these big ponds, unfortunately for Andy there didn't apear to be any big fish in the water. There were lovely colourful & decorative archways which ran throughout the tombs. We spend a further half an hor looking around the tomb before making our way towards the exit. We had to walk down the country lane again in order to fetch our bikes from the shack. We bought a bottle of water as agreed which I placed in the basket at the front of my bike & off we went. We had decided to cycle back towards the centre of Hue & head towards the Tu Duc tomb which was on the way back anyway.
We slowly cycled back the way we came when Ana had started to get really tired of bike riding & she wanted to head back to the hotel so that she could rest for a while. We had got closer to the Tu Duc tomb & we had decided that we would give Ana the map so she could find her way bake whilst we continued on to view the other tomb. After a short while of thinking about it Ana changed her mind & decided that she would like to join us after all. We rode through the near by village & it felt like we had been cycling around for ages trying to find the tomb. After vigouras searching we finally found the big high stone walls of the outside of the tomb. We done the same thing again by storing our bicycles in a nearby cafe in agreement that we would purchase something on collection of our bikes.
We paid our entrance to the tomb & in we went. This tomb looked older & a lot less preserved than the Minh Mang Tomb. Most of the building here were slightly damaged & they looked as if they were decaying. We slowly walked around looking at all the buildings. Some of the buildings where set back on a grassy area & as we walked up the steps we could see the crumbly remains of some of the structures. The place was very quiet even though there was lots of people strolliing around.
We came to one area where we walked up to some step & at the top of the steps there was a big massive open room where we walked in to. Inside there was a the old tomb of Tu Duc. Along side the tomb was lots information about how Germany has placed a massive part in restoration & conservation of artifacts & old buildings throughout Vietnam. I sat for a while on some steps just taking in the scenery whilst Andy & Ana finshed looking around. We decided that we would head back now as it was getting late & it would be dark soon. We didn't fancy the idea of trying to cycle on unlit roads what so ever.
Outside we collected our bikes & bought yet another drink as agreed. We paid for our drinks off the lady & off we rode. The three of us were very tired as we had been cycling around for hours. On the way back in to Hue we stoped to have a look at the beautiful pagoda which was just set back from the main road. Inside the place was beautiful & the pagoda itself looked stunning. The area & gardens around the pagoda was kept lovely & all the plants & flowers where brightly coloured.
It didn't take long for us to ride back to the hotel. We parked our bikes up & we where shown to our room where we chilled out for an hour before going to grab something to eat. Back on the street we looked around for a semi decent place to eat. Andy & Ana had fancied the look of a little restaurant so we went in. They ordered food but I weren't feeling very well so I skipped having something to eat. When it came to paying the bill Ana was sorting out her money when she had realised that she had been extremely short changed by the lady in the cafe by Tu Duc Tomb. For a can of coffee costing 15,000 Dong Ana paid with a 500,000 note & only got 85,000 Dong change - she was raging so we went back to the hotel to see if the staff could give her some advice about the situation.
Back at the hotel Ana was sorting out her problem whilst me & Andy went to the room for a lie down. I couldn't wait to crawl in to bed with not feeling well. Ana had been taken back to the cafe where she had been robbed by the hotel staff only for the cafe to be closed so she didn't get any result.
For the rest of the night we chilled out in the room as we planned our onward journey down to the South of Vietnam. We had agreed that as we were leaving Hue early the next day for our bus ride to Hoi An we would get up early tomorrow so we could visit Hue's Citadel before leaving.
I'm excited for Hoi An as it's meant to be a woman's paradise of clothes & shoes. I can't wait...........
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