Welcome
Travelogues
Begin trip
Previous: Vietnam (1)
The scenery along the drive up the coast was beautiful and we could have stopped in a dozen places but we drove on for 12 hours until we got to Hoi An not far from Danang. We stayed in this modern hotel that was a US Marines barracks during the Vietnam War. We were all glad to crawl into bed after a delightful Vietnamese dinner.
Hoi An is a quiet little town now but it was one of South-east Asia's most important ports from the 15th century until the predominance of nearby Danang in the late 19th century.
Here is the colourful riverside fish market. After a quick tour on a rented bicycle I shared a taxi with a Danish couple to get to Danang.
In Danang I hired a man with a scooter to drive me around the sights. Thinh spoke English with difficulty but we got on marvellously together as we exchanged about his everyday life in Danang and mine in Montreal.
Thinh was an excellent guide, he took me all over, explaining everything as we went during two days. This is a Caodai temple. Caodai is a local syncretic religion founded by Ngo Van Chieu in 1926.
The Caodai worship God indifferently through any of the great religions for they believe that all paths lead to God represented by the all-seeing eye behind the altar.
It's a pity there are so few of them (less than 100 000). Spreading their beliefs would help to reduce hate and strife between the "holders-of-the-truth" of various religions.
I really enjoyed Danang. One day, as I was sitting on a bench by the riverside, I was approached by a couple of teen agers who very politely asked me if they could practice their English with me. I acquiesced of course and we became friends so they took me by the hand to bring me to their school where I met this friendly bunch. It was just lovely.
Thinh brought me to the Marble Mountain, to the Cham Museum and to several pagodas and shrines of which, the Phap Lam Pagoda, his favourite.
Inside the Phap Lam Pagoda.
On my last day in Danang, Thinh brought me home to meet his wife, his baby daughter and his two sisters. It was just unforgettable!
Then, I took the train for the five hour trip to Hue.
I got to Hue in the evening and took a cyclo-taxi to the Morin Hotel where I had a great room for only 8 $US.
Hue was the Imperial Capital from 1802 when Nguyen Anh founded the Nguyen dynasty, until 1945. Sacked by the French in 1885, Hue was so savagely bombed by the US Air Force after the Tet offensive in 1968, that little remained standing inside the walled imperial city, the entrance of which is shown here.
Here is a small part of the ten km long moat and outside wall of the imperial city.
This is the Trung Dao bridge leading to the inner forbidden purple city reserved for the Emperor and his golden roofed Thai Hoa palace.
These nine dynastic urns, cast in 1835, symbolise the power and stability of the Nguyen throne.
The Chong Duc Gate between the Dynastic Urns and the Halls of the Mandarins
Here is one of the two Halls of the Mandarins where the Mandarins prepared for court ceremonies. It was pouring rain when I took these!
The next day I went on a boat tour of pagodas shrines and tombs along the Perfume River with Stig Pivie, a Danish librarian I had met in my hotel. The boatman behind us lived on his boat with his wife and daughter.
Here is the seven storey Thap Phuoc Duyen tower of the Thien Mu pagoda four km south-west of the citadel. The pagoda was founded in 1601 Nguyen Hoang and the tower was built in 1844 by Emperor Thieu Tri.
The rain made us rush through much of our visit which is unfortunate for there was a lot to see.
This is a very small part of the elaborate the tomb of Minh Mang who ruled from 1820 to 1843.
When we got back to the Morin Hotel I had the pleasant surprise of meeting up with Kelly and Anne again.
Naturally we had one of those memorable meals before each going our separate ways. In the usual order, Carolyne, a 15 year old Swedish girl travelling alone, Eric, a Norwegian travelling with his friend Bjorn, Victoria, a French girl, Bjorn, Stig, Anne and Kelly.
The next day I flew to Hanoi.
