Hue was lovely once I was well enough to leave my hotel and see it! I spent my first two days here sick in bed--turns out I needed the cipro after all. The hotel staff were so sweet to me when I was sick, and the hotel is quite nice so I was very comfortable, albeit feverish.
Today I went on a half day motorbike tour of the area, organized through a cafe next door, Cafe on Thu Wheels ("Thu" is the owner). It was really fantastic, and I saw parts of Hue I never would have seen any other way. We left at 8:30 and drove on little streets through the local village. It is harvest season for rice here in Hue, so everyone was up early and working in the fields. In front of some of the houses on the concrete patios, they had laid out the rice to dry in the sun. We stopped at a japanese style covered bridge, which was a gift from one of the former queens to the people, built in 1776 and has never needed to be restored since! It is a pedestrian only bridge, and people from the fields rest there during the day in the shade. After checking out a local market there, we headed to Tu Hieu Pagoda, which is an active community of Mahayanna Buddhists. We arrived in time to watch them praying/chanting, and then also saw a novice monk, a boy of about 9, perform one of his chants in the bonsai garden with his tiny cup of rice and water.
Next we headed uphill to an old war bunker which gave us a good view of the surrounding mountains and the Perfume River, and our guide pointed out Hamburger Hill and an area where thousands of Vietnamese were buried alive, most of them civilians. From there we went to Tu Duc's Mausoleum, which is the most famous mausoleum of the former Hue rulers in the area. The mausoleum is a collection of lotus flower-filled ponds and ornately tiled buildings. There was even a structure to house a stone tablet of Tu Duc's "self-critical autobiography."
Along the road, there were many stands where people were making incense, and some of the sticks were out drying in the sun. Vietnamese people only buy the red incense sticks, but the stands are filled with a rainbow of colors for the tourists.
Finally we went to the Thien Mu Pagoda, one of the most famous pagodas in Vietnam. It was already famous in the country in the 1930s and 1940s, but in 1963, one of its monks, the Venerable Thich Quang Duc, drove his car to Saigon to protest the treatment of Buddhists in the country, and burnt himself in the street upon stepping out of his car. The car is on display in one of the buildings behind the pagoda.
Later in the afternoon, I took a bike across the river to the Citadel, the old walled city in Hue. The outer walls enclose a large area of busy streets, as well as the old Imperial City, with the Forbidden Purple City lying within. Many of the buildings are in good condition, and there are also some ruins in the back to climb around. Because I went there so late in the day, it was mostly free of tourists, so I enjoyed rambling about. The tourists who were there were dressing up in old fashioned clothes to get their pictures taken on imperial-style props.
Early tomorrow morning I am taking the bus south to Hoi An, which is about 4 hours from here. I think there are a few scenic stops along the way so it shouldn't be too bad of a ride down there.
