Cruising the Perfume River

Today. Ken and I hired a boat to "cruise" the Perfume River stopping at the Thien Mu Pagoda, Tu Hui Temple and the Minh Mang Tomb. We were picked up at our hotel for the short walk to where our boat was docked.  Lol, we need to ask more questions when we are booking tours.  The boat looked seaworthy but so did the SS Minnow of Gilligan's Island fame.  The couple running the boat spoke very little English so I guess we were on our own figuring out the sites we were visiting.  Luckily, we have the trusty guide book to help.  What was really funny was the two (too little for us) red plastic chairs set up in the middle of the boat.  

Since the farthest destination is 7 miles away, we are thinking 3 hours or so and we will be back in time to maybe do some other touring around.  As we sit down, the lady tells us the tomb is more than two hours away by boat so 
now we know we are going to be on the edge of those seats for closer to five hours.  In for a penny, in for a pound so off we go.  The Perfume River, like most rivers we have seen here seems to be used as a garbage disposal so there is lots of stuff floating in it until we get out of town.  The boat doesn't seem to go very fast but it sounds like the engine is at full throttle as we head downstream.  

Soon after we get started the lady uncovers a treasure trove (?) of souvenirs and lets us know how important that it is that we buy some to help support their family.  You can't even escape the constant hawking on a private cruise!! I put her off with a promise to look at her wares later.  I am sure I can find a few things to buy so that she isn't too disappointed.  Along the way, we pass lots of other tour boats (many with the same little red chairs), folks fishing off the shore and out of little boats, farmland and graveyards.  The scenery is pleasing and it's coolish in the boat which has a roof and the windows open. Newfie air conditioning can be pretty effective if you're going at a fast enough clip.  

After forty minutes or so we arrived at the Thiên Mụ Pagoda. The seven story pagoda, the tallest religious building in Vietnam, is regarded as the unofficial symbol of the former imperial capital.  The pagoda sits on the Hà Khê hill about 3 km from The Citadel on the northern bank of the Perfume River.

Car driven to town by the monk when burned himself in protest

After thirty minutes baking in the sun, we headed back to the relative coolness of the boat and headed further down the river until we came to the Tu Hui Temple (only accessible by boat).   We did a quick look around but it wasn't as spectacular as other pagodas we had seen so we were back on the boat fairly quickly.   

On to Minh Mang Tomb which was likely to be the highlight of the day.  The Lonely Planet web-site says: This majestic tomb is renowned for its architecture and natural setting, surrounded by a forest.  The tomb was planned during Minh Mang’s reign (1820–1840) but built by his successor, Thieu Tri.

Ken and Judy say:  a fabulous place with beautiful buildings featuring lots of stairs and temples only to arrive at the locked doors behind which Minh Mang is buried.  Seriously, it is a fantastic site which we thoroughly enjoyed despite the heat.   After exploring for a long while, we stopped for an ice cream to cool off and then headed back to the boat where lunch was about to be served.  

The lady had cooked up some rice, wontons and a couple of vegetarian stir-fried dishes.  Yes folks, Ken Green ate tofu.  The food was good and plentiful so there were lots of leftovers that I am sure were put to good use.

Time to peruse the wares as we had promised.  Surprise, surprise, Ken didn't buy anything but I did buy a few things just so the lady wouldn't be too disappointed and I didn't even haggle over the price.  The return trip seemed shorter so we arrived home in under two hours, gave the lady a nice tip and headed back to the hotel.  We re-packed our suitcases as we are flying to Hanoi tomorrow and leaving the larger ones at our hotel when we grab the overnight train to Sapa. 

Sunken warship?