A Country Once Divided

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Once the DMZ for the North & South

16 April 2009 Hue
It was a 4 hour bus ride from Hoi An to our next destination, the city of Hue. Pronounced “Way”, it was the DMZ for the North & South border, back when the country was divided. We were told by many to expect cooler weather, for it was at a slightly higher elevation. Wrong! It was just as hot and sticky as our last location with a tiny breeze in the evening. Once off the bus (cramped with sad A/C) we made our way to our hotel, and our choice turned out to be a good one.

The Amigo Hotel is located near the center of everything and getting around was quite easy. Everyone at the hotel was very polite and all smiles. They welcomed us with a nice cold glass of tea, and then showed us to our room. As usual, we were told to leave our luggage and someone would bring it up to our room; which was on the 3 floor. Well, it turned out that the “someone” was this little gal who stood only about 5 feet. See, this hotel had no elevator and she lugged our big suitcases up 3 flights of stairs. And… she did it with ease. Can you say “Big tip”?

Our first full day in Hue was spent on a “City Tour” with about 25 other tourists. The morning consisted of a visit to 3 tombs of past Emperors and then back to town for lunch. After lunch we spent some time at the Citadel and were suppose to go on a river boat trip. It was very hot and we quickly realized that we were not in the mood for anything else that day, so we hopped a taxi back to the hotel. We ended up just relaxing in the room, watching TV for the rest of that day and into the next. Guess we got traveler’s burnout and needed a little re-charge. The next morning it was off to the airport for a short flight to Hanoi. So, enjoy the pictures and be ready for a super-big, spectacular blog from our next (and final) stop in Vietnam: Sapa, located way up north near the Chinese and Laos borders.

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Photos

What's that Smell?
She made Sandlewood & Cinnamon incense, plus boxes made of Cinnamon bark.

Tomb of Tu Duc
Built around 1865 for the 4th ruler of the Nguyen Dynasty.

Stone Gaurds
On the gounds of the tomb.

Dragon at the Stairs
Just about all stairs leading up to the tombs contained dragon sculpters.

Lugging our Luggage
House-keeper and luggage mover at the Amigo hotel.

Ying-Yang
Faded Ying-Yang sympol on an old drum, located on the grounds of a tomb.

Tomb Grounds
Another view of one of the tombs in Hue.

Incense
Close up of the Incense display

Comments

[Trish]

Great photos!!!! I can't see the pix on your last blog, I'm sure they are fabulous as well. We can't wait to see you two, back in San Miguel!!

[Amber]

The Tomb of Tu Duc picture is gorgeous. :) You guys always take such great pictures. What camera do you use?

[Hayesworld]

The pics got lost when the website went down. We reloaded them yesterday... glad you like them.