Hi all,
I set up a private tour with a guide over the next few days to visit Hue, the ancient Citadel (a World Heritage Site), some of the Emperor's tombs, and spend some time in the city.
After a beautiful drive over the Hai Van Pass, from Danang to Hue, the highest point in Vietnam, I dropped down to Lang Co beach. On the beach a funny thing happened. All over in the tourist towns in Vietnam you will be approached by street vendors trying to sell you something, T-shirts, maps, trinkets. They are usually young and bold. The usual response is no sale. While on the beach I encountered the usual young vendors, and said no no no...But there was a very old fisherman with a high tech reel there, (see photo) probably in his 90's. He smiled, I asked if I could take his picture..."yes, yes"... and I did, then he charged me a buck for the picture!! SCORE! the wise old guy made his mark. A "fisherman" for money, not fish!! The young vendors have a lot to learn from him. He later gave me some nice shells. :0
My guide took me through the old Citadel in Hue, a beautiful old fort built by an emperor in 1802. You can see the Chinese influence. In fact, Hue was a large seaport in the 16th to 18th centuries, so traders from China and India came here and eventually settled.
There were about 13 emperor dynasties in Vietnam from 1802 to 1945, similar to the old Chinese dynasties. Many of the emperors established a summer home which ultimately became their Mausoleum. I visited 2 of these emperor's tombs. They are incredible places, virtual palaces with beautiful grounds. One in particular, the tomb of Khai Dinh, had a full room (his crypt) of 3 dimensional mosaics. The only place in the world I've ever seen 3D mosaics.
On the way back from the tour, the guide took me to a family business where they make incense and conical hats (worn by women in the field). It was fun, had some tea there with the guide and enjoyed talking to the family. After the tour I went by a street market, I wanted you to see a typical sidewalk market. Also bought fresh, steamed dumplings from the bike mounted dumpling seller, complete with wood fired steamer on board. Got a video of how you roll incense sticks.
Next I visit the Phong Nha caves, more on that later.
-Bill
