Luckily for us there was a very helpful local who spoke very good English who translated to the ticket seller for us and very quickly got us two sleeper tickets to Hanoi on the 5th April. We commented as we were leaving that "every train station needs one of him" as it was such an easy process compared to buying tickets in Saigon.
With tickets in hand, we headed back into the centre of town and had a cheap lunch on one of the street corners. Cannot remember the name of the place but it was a definite backpackers spot, with many signatures and comments written all over the walls like "this is where we got drunk and that is why we lost our key to our moped", and "A little bit more than yesterday, and a little less than tomorrow"... not sure if they were profound or just stoned when some of these were written!
Our hotel, the Waterland, was quite a nice place (except for the massive amount of stairs and how it was hidden down a creep ally). They organised a Perfume River boat ride and tour of the Kings Temples for the following day for 140,000 VND ($7) which included lunch on the boat... which ended up coming to closer to 450,000 VND... will get to this soon...
We headed for dinner to what looked like a Italiano restaurant at firsts... until we got in side and it had Mexican wall hangings, Egyptian runes and painting on walls and a very international menu. This place was called the Hot Tuna and was one of the nice restaurants we had seen on the trip. We ate Roast Duck, noodle soup, multiple mixed berry and mango smoothies and chocolate crepes for a total cost of $12. We set next to a nice couple from Sydney who have done a lot of travelling through Asian and Europe with their children and grand children.
The tour of the Tombs started off well. After breakfast we were met at our hotel by a young woman who guides us down to the dock to board a large dragon boat for the day. It was during the walk to the boat tht we noticed that the couple we sat next to the night before at dinner were part of our tour. We cruised up the river for perhaps half a hour before the guide told us we would visit and local house to see how normal Vietnamese people lived... She said that there was no entry fee but we have to tip 10,000 dong each.... and this is where it started to add up...
The house was nice and had a extensive fruit garden. While we were there, a couple were getting their wedding photos taken in the garden. We quickly established that this is not how normal Vietnamese people live... it is how the rich live.... and how do they get rich?? by changing every tourist 10,000 VND to enter. It was in no way a tip. A forceful and semi angry lady demanded the 10,000 VND before entry to the house. and got in an argument with our tour guide when she ended up with not enough for the amount of people. If any one is thinking of taking this tour (or any in Hue as a heap of boats were stopping there), use this as an opportunity to relax on the boat for half an hour!
After visiting the house we cruised down the river for a hour or two and saw some nice scenery and some dredging works being done on the river (it appears they mine the bottoms or the river for the rich soils). As you will see from the pictures it is much different to dredging back home.
Over the rest of the day we toured 5 tombs. Each one was slightly different, but there was definitely a theme. We were aware of the entry fees to these tombs, but the tour guide got us to pay her (and she paid the entry fees... i think we paid the foreigners rate of 55,000 VND and she paid the locals rate of 10,000 VND and made a nice profit. By paying her in advance we had no choice but to see all of the tombs (where we may have say one or two out on the boat). They are definitely devious with their schemes! In saying that, i would still recommend the tours. Its ended up being about $16+ AUD each... but it included a nice lunch on the boat, and the tombs were worth seeing!
After the tour we headed back to the hotel to shower and pack our bags as we booked the 8pm train that night to Hanoi. Before leaving we visited the restaurant from the night before and once again ran into the couple from Sydney and sat with them. I had an amazing chicken breast with creamy mushrooms sauce for $3.75 and managed to get some good ideas of places to go throughout Asia and Europe from the Sydney couple.
Getting to the train station was a $2.50 taxi ride, and after a little confusion regarding which platform the train was coming to we got into our sleeper cabin (which we had to ourselves) and had an good trip. Lucky, because once again.... we were exhausted!
Walkway to the citadel
Canons of the Citadel. Named after each season.
Big festival in a few days in Hue. They were building stages all over the city.
Was annoying that we were not going to be there for it.
Entrance to throne room
Bec found an elephant
Everything had a fresh coat of paint fr the festival. This statue was very bright... It looked brand new
All of the building had been repainted inside. The detail on the timber was amazing.
Flags lined the walls of the citadel. Not sure if they ware always there or just for the festival.
On the way to the tombs on the Perfume River. The boats were so low they looked like the were sinking. This one is full of rocks from a quarry upstream.
View from the font of our boat..
Note the amazing skiing conditions.. Its been like this on all the rivers so far.
This was part of the so called normal Vietnamese house....
This was the pavilion give to the Vietnamese people as a wedding present between the King and a Princess.
Local Laundry... we have seen this a lot now.
20 metre high structure in the Pavilion
This is how they do dredging. One boat has a pump and it pumps the sludge onto a sluice board which separates the soil from the water and dumps the soil in the other boat.
Bec and I after visiting the first temple. Was by far the least spectacular.
Part of our lunch on the board. Fried tomato tofu, garlic beans and rice.
Bec being one of the statues.
View from the kings chamber and one of the tombs.
Walkways like this were all around the tombs. Most of them were built around artificial lakes and canals.
Massive obelisk in the garden of one of the temples.
Beautiful gardens. The tour guide explained why they paint the trees white at the bottom. Something to do with in winter it protects them from mould. Its some sort of limestone paint. She was a bit hard to understand
We found a chicken with chicks near our bus.
This was the newest of the temples. The detail of the statues and mosaics was amazing.
One of the temples near the base of the tomb
This is the burial place of the king (well he was buried 9 metres down).
This was up what felt like 1000 flights of stairs
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