The three Hs - Hoi An, Hue and Hanoi |
Hoi An
|
|
|
Traffic-free old quarter of Hoi An - is this really Vietnam? |
The lantern seller's stall |
|
|
||
Temple of the Cai Dao Religion - buddhism meets christianity |
The terra cotta rooves of the old quarter |
|
Marble Mountains |
||
|
One place I thought my mind should wander to was Marble Mountain, an impressive natural feature just up the road. So, next afternoon on a more typical overcast day, we found ourselves getting off a local bus in front of these five marble outcrops rising out of the coastal plain. Climbing the steep marble stairs of Thuy Son (the Water Mountain and largest of the group), we explored the various caves, pagodas and shrines that have been built into or onto this site since the days of the Cham Empire, several hundred years ago up to recent times when concrete is the material of choice. It is an amazing place, and almost as amazing is the amount of carved marble (from tiny $1 buddhas to $5000 Chinese lions that must weigh a tonne) on sale at the many shops whose gauntlet you are obliged to run when leaving. |
Fire and Earth Mountains viewed from Water Mountain |
Six-tiered pagoda on Water Mountain |
Entry to Tham Thai Tu Pagoda |
Looking up to the ceiling of Huyen Khong Cave |
Mandarin guarding the cave entrance |
In the heart of Water Mountain |
The exterior .... |
... and interior of a cave in the marble rock |
Entry to one of many cave shrines |
Interior of a pagoda on Thuy Son |
Standing buddha in a dimly lit cave |
Seated buddha carved from white marble |
The steps up the mountain - all marble of course! |
|
Encore Hoi An
|
|
|
Still night on the canal |
For our last evening in Hoi An, we were drawn once again back into the quiet Old Quarter for dinner at a restaurant in one of the mouldy-walled yellow ochre buildings, sitting on a balcony that overlooked the Thu Bon River, as the soft rain dimpled its surface, filled with dancing reflections of multi-coloured lanterns on the far bank. It was the one abiding memory that we would take with us. |
|
Hue (the old imperial capital) |
|
|||
Arriving in the old imperial city, we checked in to our hotel and immediately headed off to citadel, the 10km long walls built in 1804 to protect the capital of the Nguyen emperors. We walked along the shore of a thousand dragon boats (each one with a tout wanting your business), crossed the Perfume River by bridge and entered the citadel walls, finally escaping from two very persistent cyclo drivers, who followed us while trying to convince us that we didn't need to walk after four hours on a bus (Hue has a justifiable reputation as home of the most persistent hawkers in Vietnam - they appear to have no concept of the words, no, non, nein or even không - the only escape phrase is "maybe later"). |
The shore of a thousand dragon boats lining the Perfume River |
Gateway to the walled citadel of Hue |
The flag tower of the citadel |
Citadel wall and moat |
|
||
Ngo Mon Gate (entrance to the Imperial Enclosure) |
Dien Tho Residence (home of the dowager empress) |
The urns of the Nguyen dynasty emperors |
In the Hall of the Mandarins |
Gateway to the Truong San residence |
Colonade of the reception hall |
Interior of the Phung tien Temple |
The tombs of the emperors |
||
|
The next morning, the sky was not only grey it was raining - gently but steadily. We abandoned our idea of getting a couple of motor scooter riders to take us to Hue's other cultural landmark, the tombs of the Nguyen emperors, and hired a car instead.
There are six tombs upstream of Hue in the vicinity of the Perfume River, each chosen by an emperor for his burial site and generally comprising large walled compounds with several temples, pavillions, monuments, water features and, of course, tombs. We chose to visit two, the tomb of Tu Duc (built 1864-67) and that of Minh Mang (built 1841-43). The tomb of Tu Duc was set in large gardens around a man-made lake and canal that followed the natural contours of the landscape.
|
|
The stele pavilion, housing a stone that recalls the deeds of Minh Mang |
|
|
The gardens of Minh Mang's tomb |
Trung Minh Ho (The Lake of Impeccable Clarity) |
Minh Lao Pavilion |
Courtyard of the Minh Lao Pavilion |
The symmetry of Cao Trung Dao Bridge |
Entry to the Sung An Temple |
Hanoi |
|
Thap Rua (Tortoise Tower) in Hoan Kiem Lake |
|
|
The Old East Gate of Hanoi |
A market street in the Old Quarter |
Hanoi Opera House (a touch of French colonial architecture) |
|
||
The Presidential Palace (formerly the French Governor's House) |
Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum |
Uncle Ho's house |
The One Pillar Pagoda |
|
||||
In the Courtyard of the Sage |
Statues of early Vietnamese kings |
Entry to the Temple of Literature |
Red lacquered colonade in Thai hoc Courtyard |
One of 82 stone stelae of the doctors' laureates |
Khue Van Pavilion |
|
|
Gridlock around Hoan Kiem Lake ... |
.... as the crowd celebrates Vietnam's win in the ASEAN football cup |
|
A dragon made completely of flowers at the Hanoi Flower Festival |
|
The Huc (Rising Sun) Bridge on hoan Kiem Lake |
||
|
Walking around Hanoi After spending 7 days on and off in Hanoi between various trips, we started to feel comfortable as pedestrians and can now pass on some useful definitions to aid the new arrivee. These particularly apply to the Old Quarter. Traffic: A euphemism for the daily danse macabre that takes place between motor scooters, cars and pedestrians on the streets of Hanoi. Footpath: a narrow paved strip between road and building used for small restaurants, shop displays, street vendors and, primarily, as a place to park scooters. It is also a useful short cut for scooters when the roads are busy. Occasionally, pedestrians walk on the footpaths, but this can be quite dangerous - it is better to use the road. One way street: a street where 90% of the traffic is going in the same direction. Two-way street: a street where 50% of the traffic is going in each direction, occasionally on the opposite sides of the road. Traffic lights: Hanoi has only red and green lights with a 30 second timer counting down the period. A red light means that vehicles can continue to cross the intersection until the counter reaches 20, even though the cross traffic is already moving. It also means that they can turn right at any time merging seamlessly into the cross traffic and any pedestrians who thought that they could safely cross on a green light.
Cyclos: A form of transport with a passenger seat in front of a bicycle. Cyclo riders constantly try to get foreign tourists to sit in this seat to serve as human airbags in the event of a collision. Horns: Horns are only used when passing another scooter or car, crossing an intersection, greeting a friend or approaching pedestrians on the road. Frivolous use of the horn is strongly discouraged. Indicators: Hanoi scooter drivers use their indicators to show that they are about to merge directly into the oncoming stream of traffic to get to wherever they wish (usually a prime parking spot on the footpath), Indicators are not used for trivial changes in direction such as suddenly turning right or left, which are basic survival skills. Hanoi slow step: The only technique to cross a road in Hanoi. Wait for an appropriate break in the traffic (e.g. when one moving scooter is at least 1m behind another), then step out slowly, angled slightly upstream into the approaching swarm of scooters and cars. Make sure that your partner is on the up-traffic side, walk slowly but surely, never stopping or making eye contact - the drivers will veer ever so slightly around you and before you know it you will be on the other side of the road wondering how you did it. Nine times out of 10, this technique will get you safely across the road. Never cross the same road more than nine times. |