2008-10-05 - Vietnam 3 - Hue

The train boarded at 11pm, so it was straight to bed. You can get either a “soft sleeper”, which has 4 berths per cabin, or the “hard sleeper”, with 6 beds / cabin. Hard features mattresses that are literally 2cm thick, and older carriages (= grottier carriages). The A/C was set to stun as well, so it was a chilly night. Rather than spend most of the next day sitting on the bunk and head-butting the one above, a trip to the dining car was attempted, but the train staff use it as a rec room, trying to smoke so much that you can’t see the no smoking signs.

The train does pass through some spectacular countryside, up and down the hills in the middle of Vietnam, with great views of the ocean

Hard sleeper

Countryside

At the station, re-filling the train water tanks

Hills and the sea approacing Hue

Widneing the tunnel ahead

Ocean

More great scenery, pity about the power lines

Scenery - foreground is a vine that gows over everything else (including full-sized trees)

Got off the train in Hue, just north of the middle of the country, in the afternoon – to a great hotel and a good night’s sleep. Next day was a city tour – Hue was the capital for a while about 1000 years ago, so there are mausoleums from various emperors near the city, some expansive and some very glamorous. The singing tour guide was different too. Hue also has a forbidden city, same design as that in Beijing, but mostly gone thanks to fires, typhoons and wars. They are re-building it at the moment – will be quite impressive when complete. Hue is generally a fairly nice city, lots of trees and a relaxed feel.

Rear of the statue of a mandarin at an emperor's mausoleum - each mausoleum forecourt has statues of what the emperor will need in the next life - military and administrative mandarins, horses and elephants.

A gutter and a half

Temple in the grounds of a mansoleum

Another temple

Flowering bonsai plant - these are everywhere

Obelisk

Entry to another mausoleum (raining)

Poor photo of more statues in the forecourt

Nearly there

Inside the first hall - not the tomb itself

Looking back down the hill

Statue of the buried emperor - grave proper is under the statue

Some of the detail on the walls - 3D images made from mosaic and imported stones and marble

Lakeside building, another mausoleum

Steele with the emperor's self-written autobiography - apparently this emperor was sad, as he had mumps as a child and thus couldn't have any children (despite 100+ wives) - "shooting blanks" as the Vietnamese guide said.

Steele close-up, with short guide

Another mausoleum, another tombCourtyard

Citadel in Hue

And again

The carp can spot a tourist a mile off

Chow time

Forbidden city forecourt - the small steele mark which ranks of mandarins can stand where while being addressed by the emperor.

Forbidden city

Forbidden city ruins

Ruins and reconstruction

Bell in the wat / temple in Hue

The wat

Forbidden city again - old library, only surviving and un-restored building

Water feature and a half - origins from feng shui (or however you spell it) - it is good to be surrounded by mountains and plants, or something like that

Grille in a wall - chinese character for longevity

After the tour and a bit of souvenir hoarding, at 7pm it was time to get back on the train, this time soft sleeper, for another overnight to Hanoi.