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Published: January 21st 2009
Sleeper Bus
Also known as Hell on wheels. Even S and I couldn't fit!Day 12/13/14 - Hanoi to Hue
On Monday - Jan.19th, we (S, G and new friend Jane) boarded our night bus from Hanoi to Hue at 7:00pm not realizing 'the hell' we would soon be in for during the next 15 hours. It brings back too many bad memories to recall each moment of the ride so we'll simply just give you the jist: rank smell coming out of the bus bathroom, horrible Vietnamese music blasting well into the night (even G's noise cancelling haedphone - which work on a plane - were no match), a driver with a horn honking complex and a dreaded highway rest-room toilet stop. Now we truly understand why it is so important to find someone you can travel with and since we both have the same sense of humor, we just had to keep each other laughing so we wouldn't think about our terrible plight. The one good thing about the trip was that we totally developed a monk crush. G & S have different views on hơw things went down - G thinks he kept smiling at her, but S swears he was looking at her and smiling. (jk B, G still loves
Dog Tags
Men sell salvaged dog tags left over the The Vietnam War. You can't help but wonder if they survived. you!)
The morning in Hue didn't start off well as the bus dropped us off at some random hotel. When we booked we confirmed with the company where the bus drops off. Their response - which makes sense - was the town bus terminal. Who are we to think that would be changed in-route. Unfortunatly for us, our booked hotel was picking us up - for free - from the bus terminal. After a few phone calls and many a swear words later, we got to our hotel - Diem Thanh. Once inside the hotel Jane realized it was her birthday, so an inpormtu - and out of key - Happy Birthday was sung at the top of our lungs (to the dismay of the other hotel guests). We rested for a bit then headed out for a walk around the city. We walked over the Perfume River to the Citadel & Imperial City, basking in the nice sunny weather (finally able to wear shorts & short sleeves).
Along the way, streets were lined with people selling flowers for the Tet New Year. We also stumbled upon a guy selling Vietnam War memorabilia on the sidewalk. He had
Jane's Birthday!
This was that cake that awaited our return on Jane's B-day. The hotel staff was SO sweet. loads and loads of dog tags, canteen, gas masks and lighters that were found in the countryside hear Hue.
The Imperial City (and the Purple Forbidden City inside of the Imperial City) covers a massive area of 2 square miles and was built by Gia Long (Vietnam's first emperor) in 1804. It was a huge complex consisting of pavilions, bridges, palaces and gates. However, some of the building were leveled by the French during the war in the 1940's. As the three of us were walking around the grounds, we ran into our friend John (UK) from Halong Bay (Hanoi). Guess the backpacker's world is quite small! After a chat along the steps of the pond, we agreed to all meet up for dinner and drinks for Jane's Birthday and Inaguration celebration and hopped on motorbikes back to the hotel to rest up.
To our surprise, the staff at the hotel had noticed Jane's DOB on her passport and had gone out and bought a cake with '2' and '4' candles for her. It was so sweet of them so we sat around and ate cake with the staff for a bit. I can't begin to explain what
Khai Dinh Tomb
Our first tomb of the last Emperor with spectacular views. It is placed on a mountain side with 127 steps to the top. a surprise it was. They were so sweet! Recommend that hotel to all end!
We went to the restaurant across from our hotel (we had a 10% off flyer - so you can't beat that) and after inviting a lonely Kiwi - Greg who was eating by himself to eat dinner with us, we headed to the famous DMZ bar at the end of the street to watch Obama's inauguration. There were a handful of America's and also quite a bit of Europeans glued to the TV as Obama spoke. Even though we would have loved to be in the States to celebrate this amazing occasion, it was quite cool to be so far away from America, yet feel so apart of all the excitement. It was esp nice to be in a country that we were at war with in the recent past and hear him speak of peace and restoring America's image abroad. The sweet little Vietnamese fellow fromt he bar that organized the night had little american flags made with paper and toothpicks, ballons which he popped after Obama was sworn in and little confetti he threw up as well. He was almost more excited that
Long boat
On the way to Gia Long Tomb, our drivers took a shortcut accross the river on a longboat (with the motobikes) we were!
The next morning, G&S hired two guys with motorbikes for the whole day to take us outside of Hue to all of the Emperor's Tomb scattered around the country side. First we headed to the Khai Dinh tomb, who was the last Emperor (reigning form 1916-1925). It was quite an impressive mausoleum with 127 steep steps leading to the tomb and shrine of the emperor. The inside is ornately decorated with porcelain relief mosaics and intricate murals. The tomb had a decent amount of tourist so we jumped back on the bikes and headed to the desolate tomb of Gia Long.
To get to Gia Long's tomb (first Emperor who reigned form 1802-1820) was an adventure in itself. We drove thru a handful of villages, past rice field being plowed by buffalo's and even had to to hop on a long boat (picture) with the bikes to get to the island where the tomb was constructed. The road on the island was less a road and more just a muddy rocky path and the residents all seemed to stop and stare at us as we drove by. This was a good sign that we were off
Off the Beaten Track
We are 100% convinced the only way to see Vietnam is on the back of a bike. These are the "roads" we travelled. the beaten path and knew then this was a good way to spend $12 on our tight budget. The area where the complex was stood is almost entire in all ruins with the exception of a few statues of mandarins, elephants and horses. Unfortunately, our guide said that the area is in ruins because of the Vietnam War not because of natural causes. The decrepid stairs lead to the actual tombs that hold hold the bodies of Gia and his wife. From inside the area that holds the tombs, you can still see actual holes left from bullets (picture) and and huge mortar cavities. Our guide was telling us that he was a medic during the war, but due to language barrier we couldn't determine for sure what side we was on, but we assume the VietCong as he kept saying "VC". From the top of the steps the view was absolutely breath taking of the river, jungle and distant mountains. There wasn't a tourist, tout, trashcan or modern building in site. We really understood what Vietnam must have looked like to the men we sent into the war - untouched jungle. The heat was unforgiving.
We next head
Gia Long
Not a tourist, tout, or local in site, Gia Long is a much overlooked tomb. to a more touristy tomb - that of Minh Mang who ruled from 1820-1840. It was quite expansive with several ponds, obelisks and gates that all lead to a locked bronze door that is flanked by a huge wall that encompasses the entire hill where he was buried. His body was brought into the tomb via underground tunnels that were later not only hidden but were booby-trapped just in case someone was able top unhide them.
Then we went to tombs of Duc Duc and Duy Tan's that with yards of each other. Both were extremely run down, but being devoid of ticket booths and tourist we spent quite a while here, walking thru the ruins. Even though we had strict orders from our ankles and thighs of "no trekking", we climbed over the rubble piles left from the bombings during Nam.
Our motorbike guides were so awesome that before they took us to the last tomb, they drove us thru this tiny village and then pulled a sharp hairpin left turn to make our way up a hill where there was an American bunker. Its was quite a surprise and definitely off the beaten path since not
Bullet Holes
Most of the tombs in Hue are ridden with the marks of the Vietnam War. Here are bullet hols in the door to the tomb. even our guide book mentioned this place. Although, it was severely overgrown, you were still able to picture American soldiers perched up on this hill finding refuge from the Vietcong. While standing on top of one of the bunkers, enjoying the spectacular view, our guide told us that the Vietcong were just on the other side of the river in the hills and many a bullets were fired from each side.
We then headed to our last tomb - that of Tu Duc who reigned from 1847-83. It was a tourist spot, so we quickly made our way around the newly restored buildings. But an interesting fact about this emperor was that he had 104 wives but never fathered a son (Ohhh - so pissed). He had to write his own eulogy, usually reserved as a duty of the son, which he took as a bad omen. Shortly after his reign, the French gained full control of Vietnam.
Although, we thought we were done for the day, the motorbike guys had one more surprise and took us to the Thien Mu Pagoda which was built in 1601. Five Buddhist monks and seven novices still live on the ground
Ming Mang Tomb
More "on the beaten path" We still ventured off and managed to avoid the tour groups. and we could see them going about there daily lives. Also housed in the complex is the car of the famous monk that set himself on fire in Saigon in the late 60's. At the front of the sanctuary was a huge brass laughing Buddha which G quite took a liking too. She kept reasurring herself it wouldn't kit in the backpack!
Finally around 4pm, we arrived back at our hotel - a bit burnt by the scorching sun and hungry as all hell, we kept it low key, excited about making our way to Hoi An first thing in the AM on Thursday!!! I'm sure there will be more exciting bus stories coming soon!
xxx
S & G
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Mamma Jean
non-member comment
Wow
You two are having some adventure...love your blog!