Vietnam 2018, part 16 (Hué, Phu Quoc)
The following day we had a flight to Ho Chi Minh City around 2 pm, so we agreed to combine our transfer to the airport by taxi and the sightseeing tour of the two “remaining” tombs. Namely, the combined ticket we had bought the day before was valid for two days and so our plan was quite feasible. We agreed with the taxi driver to come and pick us up around 8 am, we packed in all of our luggage and then headed for the Tomb of Tu Duc.
This tomb is also situated at a fantastic site, but the problem for us lied in the fact that it started to rain and it rained heavily. My jacket helped keep my body dry, but it could not help me with taking photos, so I bought an umbrella right there on the spot, in a small restaurant working at the site. It was a pity we would not enjoy more, but there was nothing we could do.
The Tomb of Tu Duc is the most popular among the visitors. It was built from 1864 to 1867 after the design provided by the emperor himself. He just wanted everything to be grand (hmm! isn’t this a fabulous example of overcompensation? – he was only 153 cm tall!!!), so he was not thrifty with either money or the forced labour of others in order to come up with a place for the enjoyment during his lifetime, as well as for later. Namely, there is a small lake at the site, with an islet where the emperor could hunt small animals. Then there is a pavilion where he could sit with his concubines, and write and recite poetry. And, of course, there are the temples for the worshipping of the emperor, his wives and his mother (talking about popular psychology, this should actually not be an example of the Oedipus complex, but rather a matter of tradition, since this was not the only emperor to emphasize in particular the position and importance of his mother).
Still, one cannot help feeling a bit sorry for this emperor (but not too much), for regardless of his numerous wives and even more numerous concubines, he had no offspring, and yet he was the emperor with the longest reign among the Nguyen dynasty.
Adjoined to the Hoa Khiem Temple, there is a theatre, as well as some premises containing props for the photographing of tourists. Namely, it is possible here to rent costumes from the imperial period and have photos taken while sitting on a throne. Behind this temple, there is also the Luong Khiem Temple dedicated to the emperor’s mother, but this time around it was closed on account of some works.
When we finished with our visit to this section where the emperor used to live, we went to the part that was built in order to serve as his mausoleum. It is interesting though that the emperor was eventually not buried here at all. It is not known where exactly he was laid to rest, with all the treasure going along with him, and all the servants in charge of his burial, around 200 of them, had their heads chopped off after the work had been done in order to make sure the secret was kept. I’ve already said one should not be too sentimental about this emperor.
Still, the mausoleum structure has remained. You first cross a courtyard with stone guards including elephants, horses and mandarins, then walk past the Stele Pavilion that was fully covered for reconstruction when we were there, and then you go through a gate, thus reaching a part with the supposed sepulchre surrounded by a wall. The rain really poured when we were here, so we did not dwell around at all.
Practically the same architectural approach was applied in the case of the tomb of the emperor’s main wife, Empress Le Thien Anh.
Finally, we sat at a pavilion at the lake within the site where we could listen for a while to a group of musicians playing there. The music was fine and mostly slow, while the musicians appeared quite uninterested and dead beat. One could barely hide her occasional yawning. They probably felt very bored or perhaps they just had low blood pressure and felt sleepy on account of the grey skies and the drizzling rain. In the whole setting, I actually liked very much a cute music instrument consisting of what appeared to be small tea cups. See the video through its end...
By the time we reached the next tomb, the rain had stopped. This tomb belongs to Emperor Khai Dinh and it was built at the beginning of the 1920’s, when the French were actually really in charge. Under the influences of the new age, the tomb was made of concrete and contemporary materials, but with ample decorations. Today, when all of that has acquired dark tones, it did not appear particularly attractive.
Tomb of Khai Dinh, Stele Pavilion
Still, when you enter the tomb building, you come across a complete contrast – as much as it is all grey and black outside, that much is colourful on the inside. The mortal remains of Emperor Khai Dinh are buried 15 metres under the central section.
Regardless of all the sections which this tomb complex consists of (entrance, staircases, gates, buildings for mandarins – military and civilian ones, more ornaments and pavilions, as well as the tomb palace), this site was significantly less impressive than the previous one, so we did not stay there for too long, but rather the driver took us to the airport.
Since we had finished with our sightseeing a little earlier, we had more idle time at the airport, but we did transfer without any problems to Ho Chi Minh City, where we had a couple of hours at the airport to transfer to the flight to the island of Phu Quoc. Namely, the time has come for us to have a good rest and to have it on the beach.
Visit of the south parts of Vietnam
When I made the reservations, I chose a resort that was not particularly big, which is an advantage, but it was on the very coast and had its own beach. In other words, our moving around was brought to a minimum. Admittedly, the first day we did briefly take bikes offered by the resort for free in order to get to the nearest store and buy sun-screen lotion. Not counting the “going out” in the evening, that was it as far as the moving around was concerned. We had a room with a beautiful balcony and the sea-view, but we still spent a good deal of time lying on the beach in the shadow of a parasol and we also tried out beach massage. It was not spectacular, but it was just fine for underlining how passive we actually were.
In the evening we decided to go to the Phu Quoc Night Market, but in addition to different trinkets and stuff that could be bought there, the main thing was food. Glorious, fantastic, exotic, tasty and ideally fresh food!
Numerous restaurants had freshly caught fish and other sea creatures displayed, as well as aquariums with alive crustaceans and other animals, including also some snake-like creatures. The point is that you get there, select what you want to have prepared, then you sit down in the restaurant and wait for your dish that was prepared either on the barbeques in front of the restaurant or in the kitchen, depending on what you have ordered.
The first time around we made a fantastic choice and combination – grilled fish as the main course, but we also wanted to try something new, so we opted for some large sea snails (I guess their name in Vietnamese is oc toi). Never mind their name, they were great!
After a good dinner, it was a proper time for a desert and what is better at the seaside than ice-cream? Here they make ice-cream on the spot and they do it skilfully. Have a look...
The next day it was rather cloudy, but not too much and not the entire day, so we were still on the beach. Our resort was very close to the airport, but there was no noise at all. However, it was interesting to watch airplanes getting ready for landing.
Needless to say, when you are lying around the whole day, after a while it may get boring and thus I played with my photo-camera exploring its special effects.
However, the very position of the beach also allowed for visual games even without using any special effects. Namely, we were located on the west side of the island, meaning that the sun was slowly setting almost right in front of us, while the clouds had mostly disappeared in the meantime. First there was an impression of liquid gold in the shallows which was the effect of the rays of the setting sun.
And then I saw an airplane getting closer to the island. At some point it was exactly between me and the sun. Take a careful look at the following picture and you will see a tiny contour of the plane against the sun.
Already at the next photo it may be seen that the plane is continuing further to the airport strip.
And then we finally had a day that was almost cloudless.
When I got to the beach I saw some local fishermen who first brought out the catch to the beach and handed it over to, I presume, a chef from a local restaurant and then they started to collect the net putting it back into the boat. The women who accompanied the fishermen and who now worked on the collecting of the net wore their face masks even in a place like this. I really cannot understand what their purpose is.
It was our last entire day on the beach and it was perfect.
The next day we had the entire morning free, but the weather was no longer in our favour. I guess this was “arranged” so that it would be easier for us to part from the resting and nice setting.
Going back to Ho Chi Minh by plane, we could very nicely see the numerous branches of the Mekong river delta. It was the proper preparation for the additional excursions we were planning.