Boating on the Perfume River, Hue, Vietnam

 Hue is dominated by the Perfume River, which charmingly winds right through the middle of town (I love the name too, so picturesque!). Not suprisingly, there are a lot of options for river exploration.

 One day we rented a swan-shaped paddleboat and had a very fun couple hours tooling around on the river (we would have stayed longer but I was worried about sun exposure for R).

This was one of the highlights of the trip for R: look how happy she is! She loved steering even though she wasn't very good at it (luckily it didn't matter at all, so we were glad to cede control to her).

 Another day we rented our own motor boat (ours is one of the boats docked at the roadside) and sailed down the Perfume River to view nearby palaces and pagodas. This is a very popular trip and available everywhere (though like most tourist-oriented things in Vietnam, it's buyer beware: be careful not to overpay or accidentally get booked on a tour with a hard sell of additional services/products).

R and I playing a Jake and the Neverland Pirates game

 The boat was great as we had it all to ourselves and R had plenty of space to roam around. I was happy it was completely roofed (and even had curtains) to help keep her out of the tropical sun. Part of our boat rental included lunch prepared and served on the boat, which was both nice and convenient.

 We bought R a little Vietnamese style suit at the first stop, at her request: she liked it because it was pink. So cute to see her in it though!

 The first stop on all these tours is the Thien Mu Pagoda, at seven stories Vietnam's tallest. The pagoda is right next to the river, so boating there is both easy and fun.

 R riding one of the huge memorial stone turtles, a symbol of longevity. She just liked them because they were animals.

R gave a hug to one of the temple guardian statues

Next stop on the tour was the Tu Duc Mausoleum. Motorbikes will meet you at the place boats dock and for an additional fee will give you a ride directly to the mausoleum (less than 10 minutes). We chose to walk instead, which in retrospect was not a good idea. It was too hot and sunny, and the path is not clearly marked so that we got lost. Trudging along blazing hot pathways with an increasingly grumpy three-year-old is not any fun at all.

Luckily we found a small store (really just someone's house where they were selling some cans of soda occasionally) and rehydrated in the shade of their veranda, hanging out with the owner, the owner's wife, the owner's son (none of whom really spoke English, but all were very friendly and charmed by R), goats, dogs, chickens, and cats. We got directions of a sort and soon found our way to the Mausoleum after all.

It is a huge complex--the emperor used it as a retreat for himself and his court during his lifetime--and full of beautiful old trees and atmospherically crumbling buildings.

The roof architecture is especially decorative.

Happy doing my favorite thing, visiting historical sites!

We took motorbikes back to our boat, having learned our lesson the first time. We had rented the boat for a full day but were so tired from our hike and tomb viewing that we skipped seeing the other tombs and just returned back to Hue around 3 pm. Still a really fun day out, and a perfect close to our time in Vietnam.

The Imperial City of Hue

After our time in Hoi An, we headed up the coast to the former Imperial city of Hue, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site. Here's UNESCO on Hue:

Established as the capital of unified Viet Nam in 1802, Hué was not only the political but also the cultural and religious centre under the Nguyen dynasty until 1945. The Perfume River winds its way through the Capital City, the Imperial City, the Forbidden Purple City and the Inner City, giving this unique feudal capital a setting of great natural beauty.

Hue is constructed like a series of interlocking boxes, with the capital city surrounding the Imperial City (the former home of the Nguyen emperors), which surrounds the Forbidden Purple City ("forbidden" because entry was restricted only to the emperor and his close family). Each section is separated from the others by walls and canals.

Much of the complex was destroyed by war (both during the war with the French for independence, and the Vietnam War). They are busy restoring what remains.

R and I in front of the outer wall, Communist flag flying in the background. 

We were popular with Vietnamese tourists for posing purposes, as always

The City is really big, full of broad squares and avenues (like the Forbidden City in China, it was a real city in both size and scope), so walking around the whole thing can be tiring, especially in Vietnam's heat. Luckily a number of horse-drawn carts were available. The poor horse above was pulling a clown-car-esque huge family group. I couldn't believe how many people they stuffed in there!

To R's pleasure, we rented a horse-drawn carriage and drove around the City that way. It made viewing with a toddler much more pleasant!

Going through one of the decorated gates separating different sections of the City

One of the houses for the Emperor, in mixed East-West style

One of the broad avenues spanning a lotus-choked canal

Decorative statue

They also had ponies to pose on. R was really nervous about mounting it but managed to do it in the end. 

Hue itself is not that big a city (population is around 340,000) and has a rather sleepy, charming feel. The river winding through the city, along with all the trees lining the streets, certainly add to the atmosphere. Plenty of taxis are available, but the most fun way to get around is via cyclo.

R in her cyclo

Crossing the Perfume River

Everything can go on the back of a bike or motorbike in SE Asia!

Much of Hue isn't nearly so busy, though, and looks more like this (that's R's little head sticking out of the cyclo): quiet, tree-lined streets full of little shops and restaurants.

My Son Sanctuary, Vietnam

I never finished my recaps of our trip to Vietnam (which was almost a year ago now!). We started off by staying in Hoi An for five days. I took one of these days to venture off by myself to the UNESCO-listed ruin of My Son Sanctuary.

Here's what UNESCO has to say on the subject:

Between the 4th and 13th centuries a unique culture which owed its spiritual origins to Indian Hinduism developed on the coast of contemporary Viet Nam. This is graphically illustrated by the remains of a series of impressive tower-temples located in a dramatic site that was the religious and political capital of the Champa Kingdom for most of its existence.

The temples are beautiful and dramatic. I didn't have a real camera, sadly (having lost mine in Hoi An), so these are all taken with my terrible cell phone camera.

It was a Hindu site so they worshipped Shiva in the guise of a lingam (phallic symbol). Here's one of the shrines, and below is another, looking even more phallic.

The site was relatively uncrowded, and most of the people there were in tour groups, making it easy to avoid them.

My favorite part was getting to enter the intact shrines. They are so dark inside, making them very dramatic in the tropical sunshine.

One of the few intact structures. My Son was heavily damaged during the Vietnam War as the Viet Cong used it as a base and the American army bombed it extensively as a result.

The small museum (without any explanatory text, however) houses some examples of the sculpture. My favorite was the elephant-headed lion.

B stayed with R at the hotel so that I could enjoy the site at my own pace (glacially slow and thorough). I missed them of course but was so happy enjoying my ruin! Thanks B!

The ruins are surrounded by jungle, which is quite lovely and adds to the atmosphere of the place.

My Son is not as stunning and impressive as Angkor Wat or Borobudur, but it is still well worth a visit (especially as it's only a short trip from Hoi An). Many tours go there, but I rented a taxi, which if you can afford it (it wasn't that expensive, maybe $40? I don't remember the exact price now) is well worth it as you can then go at your own pace and avoid the crowds.

Path back to the entrance

Hoi An, Vietnam

Back in July of last year, we went to central Vietnam as a sort of birthday present to me (B and I don't give each other presents: the best kind of gift is an experience, especially when it involves travel). B and I spent a month in Vietnam many years ago, and it was a pretty disastrous trip, including a Japanese encephalitis scare, getting chased by a knife-wielding maniac, B getting punched at the train station, and an attempted pickpocketing with feet. But many people I've spoken to loved Vietnam, and I wanted to give it another shot. I am so glad that I did.

We started out in Hoi An, which is a UNESCO-listed riverside town of great charm. It was a major trading port from the 15th to 19th centuries, and its decline in the late 19th century meant that many of the buildings and streetscape have remained mostly unchanged since then. There's not a lot of major sites, but we had a wonderful and relaxing time strolling through the streets, visiting the temples and other architecture, and boating on the river (we enjoyed this so much we did it two days in a row: one of these times R got to steer the boat, which she took very seriously).

R at one of the temples built by overseas Chinese immigrants

Sadly on our third day there I lost my camera along with all the pictures I had taken (including the ones of R steering, such a pity). The ones in this post were therefore taken with my cell phone (which has a terrible, very slow camera) and don't really do Hoi An justice. It is more charming than reflected here!

R bowing at the temple shrine: she loves Chinese temples and always insists on visiting them. I think she likes all the color and vibrancy.

R with one of her adoring fans: everyone always wants to pose with her! This woman was a Vietnamese tourist.

Me at the single most famous sight, the Japanese bridge (dating from the 18th century)

R and I on the river, pirate Izzy (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates) accompanying us

R enjoying the water

What our boat and boatlady (they are all women) looked like

We spent three days in the town of Hoi An and two days just outside of town at a beach resort. The distance between the ocean and the town is a short car ride (maybe 15 minutes) or a scenic boat ride (maybe 90 minutes). The beach was pretty great and relaxing: here are my sandy toes as I luxuriate reading a book (R is digging in the sand in the distance with B).