HUE, VIETNAM March 13, 2007

This was the view we had coming into Hue, pronounced, hway. It was a pilot boat, as usual to guide us into the port plus an unusual view of a small fishing boat pulling a strig of small round boatlike things. Not really sure if they are sea worthy but we liked the picture!
Hue is 8 miles inland from the South China Sea, in the foothills of the Annamite mountains. Hue stands as a reminder of Vietnam's imperial past. The seat of 13 emperors between 1802 and 1945. Hue was once Vietnam's Imperial City. Although it was devasted by the French in the 19th century and again by fighting between the Vietnamese Communists and the Americans in the 20th, the city is littered with pieces of former glory. It has a war-ravaged beauty. You can stand at many of the walls of emperor's palaces and imagine their once splendor. They say the city is slowly restoring, despite the gaping holes of war. Hue itself is quite small and you can easily get around the imperial city on foot. We went by bus to the Tomb of Tu Duc and the Forbidden Purple City and took a boat ride down the Perfume River. It was hotter than hot. A welcome change from freezing in Beijing!! I hope you enjoy Vietnam. I'd like to go back.



We were greeted on the pier by Vietnamese singers, dancers and dragons! They were very happy to have us in their country.
The picture of this bridge looked just like something you'd imagine in movies of Vietnam right before they were blown up. This bridge was over a river full of lilies that were in bloom. The countryside was beautiful The mountains were smoky like in Tennessee. The rice fields went on forever. On both sides of the road there were people working in the fields with their familes and water buffalos.



Typical town areas have small stalls of shopping with many people milling around. Most people are either on bikes or scooters. Not many cars. The unusual boxes on stands were out in front of many countryside homes/farms. I was surprised to find out that 60% of the population in Vietnam worship their ancestors as their religion. They burn insense and say that the smoke that rises up goes up to their ancestors as prayers. There are Catholics and some Protestants, and some Buddists as well here.
We went to the Tomb of Tu Duc. It was built in 1867 by thousands of laborers, the tomb was once the second residence of Tu Duc, emperor from 1829 to 1883. He had over 100 wives and numerous concubines, somewhere around 400! Still, somehow, he found time to come to this place of lakes and pine forests to relax and write poetry!! Our guide, Lan, she was very excited about her city and even sang to us on the bus. She was adorable.

The ponds of the emperor's tomb. You can see that Kathleen and Nicholas have a new friend. He is Grant, from Texas! It is nice to have another kid on the ship. He is on visiting his grandparents. He is only on for 3 weeks so they are making the best of the time they have with their new friend!



Kathleen in front of the many ups and downs at the tomb. The emperor's actual resting place is out on an island in the gardens and they do not allow ANYONE out on the island. They know he is buried with many expensive items for his afterlife but have never unearthed them!!! Many people opt for a bicycle powered ride instead of the walking when it is 95 degrees and 100% humidity!! This statue was part tiger, part dragon. You can see Kathleen and Grant through the bellyside of the statue! One of Nicholas' favorite friends is Chuck from California! He is a 10 year old in a 60 year old's body! He and Nicholas get along well!!

Inside the gates of the Forbidden Purple City is where the royal family lived. Now, unfortunately, due to the many wars, there is not much left. It does have a feel of splendor when you see remnants of the past that have been taken over by vegetation.


The perfume river was a slow boat ride and gave us a welcome breeze! Our tour took us to the place we have all come to enjoy, a shopping market!! This one was HUGE!! Not only huge but HOT! Kathleen thought a fan would be an appropriate purchase. Mary Pat and Jay were looking for silk. I on the other hand had met a gal that had been here 5 years ago and bought freash water pearls for $5.00 a strand!! That was what I was searching for.

First we had to make our way though about 10,000 baseball caps. You might want to go check the labels on the inside of all your caps, I am sure they will say made in Vietnam!! It was a sea of ball caps!


Kathleen put her hands on her hips and thought about retreating to the bus when a pretty large rat ran over her foot! It was after some food on the other side of the corridor, so it kept running! She screamed and that was the end of it! We kept on the search for the pearls!! I found our guide and she pointed me into a direction I would have some luck. She was right! I found a pearl lady and got 7 strands of pearls for $20!!! Don't ask me why only 7. That was all she had left!! I will have to make another trip here. The market was CRAZY with people and a few rats!!


Kathleen could not leave Vietnam without the traditional hat. It actually serves dual purposes here in Vietnam. It keeps the sun off you and it has an oil treatment on the grass that sheds water quickly so it is like a tiny umbrella. Many have poems woeven in them. Kathleen's has a poem, we will have to get someone that can read it to tell us what it says, all this for $1.00!!

We had a full day but did not seem to take enough pictures for you. You will have to make a trip. The people here are happy to have American visitors. Our next stop is Bangkok! We will be off the ship for one night in a hotel there.