A long hot day in Chan May, Vietnam - pt 1

Today is a sea day and I'm thankful. Yesterday was a day! I didn’t know it could get any hotter, but the temperature and humidity seem to get worse the further south we travel. We were off the ship in Chan May for an all day (8 hr) excursion. At one point, I wasn’t sure I could last that long! By noon the heat was really getting to me and I wasn’t feeling well at all. I felt like my legs could literally buckle beneath me! Needless to say, I’m trying to hydrate more and I’ve cancelled the next 2 excursions which both require a lot of walking. And truthfully, I’ve seen enough of Buddhist shrines and temples (which most all of our tour choices include) so I won’t mind laying back for a bit.

Our tour started with an almost 2 hour drive to the Hue (pronounced “way”) Royal Palace. We walked from building to building within the large palace grounds, most of it in the direct sun. Before we even left the palace, our guide had a wet towel over his head and everyone was red-faced and sweating profusely. 

Hue Royal Palace

multiple buildings within complex

ornate carvings and woodwork

large complex

typical Vietnamese attire

 

intricately carved doors

beautifully landscaped grounds

 

By the way, there were vendors EVERYWHERE. Have you heard the term “in your face”? That’s the way the sellers operate - by sticking their merchandise directly in front of your face. They are not easily convinced that you don’t want to buy something so they then follow you and keep asking repeatedly. It was the same once inside the dragon boat. There was lots of merchandise on tables in front and down the middle and our hostesses were pretty relentless in trying to sell their goods.

 

older fruit vendors stay in shade

sunglasses vendors walk around

selling artistic fans

Finally after the long walk back on the bus, we were to driven another 15 minutes or so to see a pagoda, but that involved a lot more walking. Thankfully, the dragon boats that would take us to lunch were between the bus and the pagoda so half of us opted to go straight to the dragon boats while the other half trekked along with our guide to see the pagoda. 

 

entrance to pagoda

covered boat, notice koi below

 

2 dragon boats made into one to carry more tourists

 

dragon boat captain

 

The steering wheel on the dragon boat reminded us of the original Mickey Mouse's in Steamboat Willie. Once the others returned from the pagoda and boarded the boat, we were taken across the Perfume River to a restaurant (thankfully with AC!) Below are some random photos I snapped as we crossed the river.

 

workers laying a sidewalk

Thien Mu pagoda

river front kids with fan, umbrella and water

Buddhist temple

life along the Perfume River

 

business on the river front

 

On the other side where we enjoyed a buffet lunch and music performed by some young people on traditional instruments. Some of their song selections (Que Sera Sera, Auld Lang Syne, Oh! Susanna, etc) seemed a little unusual, especially being played by those instruments. I took a few more photos (above) as we crossed back over the river.

 

students playing traditional Vietnamese instruments

lunch buffet style

fried somethings

Coke in Vietnamese

 

   

Vietnamese soup (pho)

After lunch, we were driven to King Tu Duc’s tomb (which may or may not even be his tomb). I’ve learned my limits in this heat so I stayed on the bus for that one. But Ronnie took a few photos for me and here’s the short Wikipedia version.  “Emperor Tu Duc enjoyed the longest reign of any monarch of the Nguyen dynasty, ruling from 1848-1883. Although he had 104 wives and concubines (guide said he had over 600), he was unable to father a son (possibly he became sterile after contracting smallpox). Thus, it fell to him to write his own epitaph on the deeds of his reign. He felt this was a bad omen, but the epitaph can still be found inscribed on the stele in the pavilion just to the east of the Emperor's tomb. This stele is the largest of its type in Vietnam, and had to be brought here from a quarry over 500 kilometers away--a trip that took four years.”

Like the Royal Palace, this is a huge complex of mausoleum in a park-like setting. It covers 30 acres and includes 50 small and large buildings.

King Tu Duc's tomb complex - built during Nguyen Dynasty

built 1864 -1867

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thought to be King Tu Duc's tomb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This post is getting too long so I'll stop here and post the rest separately.