Sunday 6th November 2022
Today we’re getting a couple of scooter tours with Hue Student Tours. In the morning a few historic and cultural sights, and in the afternoon some traditional handicrafts then the big lagoon.
Vy, who was our guide on yesterday’s food tour, was also our guide for today. There were two other students with her, both there to practice their English (and one of them would also take Pete on the back of their scooter).
Our first stop was the Thien Mu Pagoda, with its impressive seven storey octagonal tower. Vy asked someone to take a photo of the five of us. After they’d taken it, a tourist next to us passed over their camera – they wanted a photo with Pete and I too. Pete especially seems to be very popular over here, with a lot of people stopping to give him a fist bump, say hi, or tell his he’s handsome (which of course he is!)
To the left of the tower is a pavilion sheltering an enormous bell. To the right is a second pavilion, this time with a turtle carrying a massive marble tablet. At the back of the tower is the Dai Hung shrine, with a big bronze laughing Buddha statue.
Behind the pagoda is a beautiful garden, containing a small building housing the car driven by Thích Quảng Đức to the Saigon intersection, where he set himself on fire in protest to the anti-Buddhist policies of the South Vietnamese government.
At the very far end of the garden is the grave of the first head monk of the pagoda, Thich Don Hau. The grave looks a bit like a miniature version of the tower, but with six storeys instead of seven.
We got back on our scooters and headed to the incense making village, which is actually where one of the students grew up and still lives. Here, a lovely old lady showed us how she makes her incense sticks. Then it was our turn to have a go. It was definitely a lot harder than she made it look!
The incense making village is very close to bunker hill, a popular picnic spot for locals with a lovely view over the Perfume River. We walked up the hill to admire the views.
Then it was back to the scooters, to drive to the Mausoleum of the Emperor Tu Duc. It’s an immense and beautiful complex, so it’s a bit odd that the names of all the buildings etc start with Khiem, which means modest. I struggle to imagine what the lavish version would have looked like!
Within the main building is also a theatre, apparently the oldest in Vietnam. It’s survived well, and was interesting to see.
The mausoleum also has a big pond with a lot of Koi carp. You can pay 5,000 VND (about 15p) to buy some fish food to feed them with, which was quite fun to do. A solitary duck was also trying to get in on the action when we were there.
This was the final stop of our morning tour, so it was back into town for some lunch. We ate at Cozy Restaurant (Hue), and ordered Bahn Khoai (the Hue speciality pancakes), fried spring rolls, and Vietnamese yellow curry. The food was good, but not amazing. Yesterday’s Bahn Khoai were definitely much better! After we’d eaten, we were given a free flan for dessert – it seems everyone gets one – which was quite a nice touch.
We walked back to the hotel and didn’t have long to wait until Vy picked us up for the afternoon tour. There were a different set of two students accompanying her. We set off for Thanh Tien Paper Flower Making Village, our first stop. Unfortunately the guy that makes the lotus flowers wasn’t available, so we couldn’t have a go at this. Instead, his wife showed us how to arrange some of the other paper flowers. These arrangements are often used to decorate small temples and family alters (which most people have in their homes to honour their ancestors).
We then continued to Tranh dân gian Làng Sình, for some traditional painting, which was actually less impressive than it sounded. It turned out to be block printing, but we were able to have a go which was quite fun.
It was then on to our final destination, the Thanh Lam lagoon, which forms part of the largest lagoon system in South East Asia. It was a spectacular sight, and I really enjoyed the boat trip we took around the lagoon.
After sailing around the lagoon, we continued to a floating restaurant that can only be reached by boat, Đầm chuồn – Hương Quán. We shared a few different dishes including clams with ginger and lemongrass, steamed fish, stir fried morning glory, and rice. I was surprised to find the steamed fish still had all its internal organs inside. The food was all pretty good though, and it was a very enjoyable meal with the views over the lagoon.
By the time we finished eating, the sunset was well underway, and it was a beautiful boat ride back to shore.
We rode the scooters back into town, then said goodbye to Vy and the students. Pete and I then went out exploring the local area. It was very lively for a Sunday night, and a lot of the streets had been closed to traffic. We even came across a street performer, although he was decidedly western looking – we half suspected he was a tourist trying to earn beer money!
We were very tempted to get another snack, as all the restaurants were packed so we assumed the food must be great. We managed to resist though, and after a short walk headed back to our hotel for the night.
Emma and Pete’s Asian Adventure 