HUE

DAY 2:

 Our third organised trip by dragon boat to tombs and pagodas. We headed off down the Perfume river to our first stop, An Hien Garden House. For most of the people on the tour, this was a complete waste of time. It was a house with a pretty garden....with lots of Mossies!! Infact, in the whole 3 weeks that we've been in Vietnam, Mrs F hadn't been bitten once and in the 3 minutes that we were at this house, Mrs F was bitten twice! :-(

We then got back on the boat and headed for the pagoda and tombs. The tombs are where previous kings and emperors now rest. It was a very long and slow trip down the river for an hour, but the scenery was pretty.

The garden at the house.....

                      

                  A jack fruit tree....

...... One of many big and beautiful butterflies

           Thien Mu Pagoda.....

After here we got back on the boat where we had a lunch of rice, noodles and tofu which was quite nice. We ordered extra chicken spring rolls....which weren't nice at all! After  lunch we went to the first tomb, Khai Dinh. It was quite big to walk around, mainly just gardens with lots of butterflies. The Vietnamese believe that at night time, the previous kings soul comes back into a forbidden garden at the back of the tomb. There's a little hole by the gate to the forbidden garden where you can look through.....it was just an overgrown garden!

.....Mrs F peeking through to the forbidden garden.

We then moved on to the second tomb, but we chose not to go in as it was 80,000 Dong entrance fee to each tomb, so finances dictated which tombs to go in. We sat outside and chatted to a couple of solo travelers, Rachel and Amanda. Rachel was from St Helens and had been traveling for a year and half and Amanda was from Scotland and had been traveling for 9 months. We all got on really well and had a good laugh swapping traveling stories.

Outside Khai Dinh Tomb....

 Mr F, Mrs F, Amanda and Rachel

Our last tomb, Tu Duc, Mr F went in on his own to take pictures so just paid for 1 ticket. Our last stop was a Conical hat and incense making village where Mrs F had a go at making  an incense sticks. The locals were impressed at how well she had made it! :-)

Tu Duc Tomb.....

 Mrs F having a go at making an incense stick.....

A conical hat being made....

 

 Views along the Perfume river....

This tiny little kitten was about 10cm long!!

We got back to our hotel room to find a complimentary bottle of wine and chocolates next to fresh towels made like a rabbit and peacock! :-)

That night we went to The Backpackers Hostel and had fish 'n chips for 2pounds each and it was very nice.

The Boys with their conical hats getting with the Vietnamese program....