Yoga ~ Travel ~ Joy: Be careful what you wish for...

This morning I arranged a motorbike tour for us with Cafe on Thu Wheels. I was excited to explore Hue by motorcycle and get to practice riding a nice, light motorcycle before jumping on my heavy 750cc cycle after a few months off. But I didn't confirm something very important: who would be driving the motorcycle... Instead of riding our own motorcycles, all four of us got to ride bitch behind tiny Vietnamese men. :)

Golien ready for her first time on a scooter, and much relieved that she doesn't have to drive. :)

Jeff is ready to go.

These helmets won't protect much. :)

Gavin rollin'. :)

I got to ride behind our tour guide, who was the only one of the four who spoke good english. :) He was a really amazing driver; I felt comfortable even in the crazy traffic of Hue. We rode through the countryside, seeing rice fields and also a cemetary the size of a large town! Our first stop was a Japanese covered bridge that was built in 1776. The bridge's posts are made of wood, and this bridge has NEVER BEEN REPAIRED since 1776, and amazingly it is still standing and it good condition, despite some really high flooding in the 90s. The bridge was built to help rice farmers cross the river more easily. Local rice farmers sometimes take a little siesta inside the bridge, as it is much cooler inside the bridge than outside in the field.

Japanese covered bridge.

Our guide explains the flooding level.

A veggie vendor about to cross the bridge.

Rice farmers taking a rest in the bridge. Foggy pic is because it was so hot and humid that Gavin's lens was fogging up!

After the covered bridge we headed to see the tomb of Khai Dinh, the second to last emperor of Vietnam. After paying our entry fee, we trudged up the stairs into the tomb. I saw trudged because despite that we had only been outside for about an hour, Hue is BEASTLY HOT and HUMID! We had been desperately wishing for sunshine for the first half of our trip, but in Hue we would have been grateful for the cooling drizzle of Hanoi...

Tomb of Khai Dinh.

Statues inside.

Khai Dinh's biography on a tablet behind me.

View from the tomb.

In the main chamber where Khai Dinh's body is kept, the walls were decorated with the most amazing 3D mosaics!

Khai Dinh's tomb covered in mosaics.

3D mosaic detail.

3D mosaic in the outer chamber.

Obligatory yoga photo, snapped really quick before a pile of tourists surrounded the place. :)

View from the tomb of Khan Dien.

After the tomb, we visited our first pagoda, the Tu Hieu pagoda. On the way through the trees to the shady pagoda, we saw a monk riding a moped. :)

The pagoda was a shady oasis on the hot day, and had lovely gardens with bonsai trees and orchids.

Pretty orchids hanging in the garden.

Inside the pagoda.

Buddha.

A NOISY frog in the garden pond.

Lovely orchids.

After the pagoda, we reluctantly headed back out in the sun to the tomb of the emperor Tu Duc. This was less a tomb and more of a COMPLEX. And the guy isn't even buried there. It had housing for his 104 wives and even more concubines, which was mostly in ruins, plus a couple temples, a courtyard, the Stele Pavilion where Tu Duc wrote his autobiography, etc.

Xung Kiem Pavilion inside Tu Duc's tomb.

Walking up to the Stele Pavilion.

Tu Duc's autobiography.

Entrance to Tu Duc's tomb-where-he's-not-buried.

Stele pavilion.

After walking around this complex for a while, we were seriously sweaty and tired from the oppressive heat. We were secretly hoping this would be our final destination; the swimmimg pool was calling... :)

But we had two more stops. First we stopped at a place where we could have a nice view of the Perfume River, so named for the flower farmers that carried their flowers down the river by boat.

Panorama of the Perfume River viewpoint, including old French bunkers.

Perfume River.

Our last stop was the Thien Mu Pagoda, made famous by the monk Thich Quang Duc, who left this pagoda and performed a self-immolation in Saigon to protest the government. The car he in which drove himself is still in the pagoda.

The Thap Phuoc Duyen tower at the entrance to the pagoda.

Inside the pagoda.

Gardens in the pagoda.

The famous car, plus the picture of the monk burning himself behind it.

The temple. We weren't allowed inside, but this monk periodically tapped that gong bowl with the most lovely, resonant sound resulting.

After this final stop we FINALLY got to go back to our hotel, and promptly took a break in the pool. :) Then after relaxing for a bit and cooling down, we headed out again to check out the Dong Ba market.

Dong Ba Market.

Dong Ba market was similar to the other markets we had been to so far in Vietnam; you could buy all kinds of crap and a few tourist souvenirs. There was also a food section where one could buy fruit, vegetables, fish, chicken and all things edible. I would not have eaten a single thing in here though; this whole section smelled like a chokingly strong mixture of feces and fish.

After a quite brief walk through of Dong Ba market, we walked to South Bank, the touristy section of Hue with countless restaurants and bars. I really wanted to stop for street food for dinner, but I got vetoed :) and we instead had an unremarkable dinner at a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. We did buy some fresh mangoes from an old woman on the street, and in Vietnam they evidently eat them at a different stage of ripeness than we do. These were CRUNCHY like an apple, but not as sour as you would expect. We got some with hot chili pepper; I love the sweet/spicy combo.

Street food in Hue. Doesn't this look amazing?!

After dinner we went for "happy hour" at the Brown Eyes bar, which was recommended by Lonely Planet and also had many young women prowling the streets and handing out happy hour cards to tourists. It was definitely a college bar, though it had nice outdoor seating. Happy hour specials were 2 for 1 cocktails, and in the two cocktails was maybe enough alcohol for half of a drink; they were the most watered down drinks I have ever had. :) They also kept bringing around free shots, which I don't think had ANY alcohol in them, and mine tasted like a blue raspberry snow cone that had melted.

After drinks we decided to get foot massages at a nearby foot massage parlor. It was a little sketchy looking, and we had four giggly Vietnamese ladies that I swear could have been teenagers, and they were a little rough with the massages; they left bruises on a couple of us. :) Also the little vibrating massage pad I was laying on was on its last legs and making such horrible grinding noises directly behind my head I had to turn it off. Gavin wasn't able to relax at all; every time I looked at him he looks really uncomfortable. :)