Silver Lining

A few days before my trip to Huế, the forecast showed all sun, all 70s. Right before I left that changed to rain, straight through. I hoped that it would be Delta-style rain, intense but brief, but instead it was a weekend of cold gray drizzle. Because our sightseeing had to be punctuated with periods of drying off and warming up, we didn't get to see as much as we had originally intended, but we nonetheless had a full and relaxing weekend.

2.16.12
I arrived in Da Nang on Thursday night. Maria (the Da Nang ETA) and I met at Bread of Life, a restaurant that employs local deaf people and whose proceeds go towards deaf education in central Vietnam, and I indulged in a baked mac and cheese. On our way out, we met a guy from Snook, Texas who had overheard our talk of the Aggie marching band (I had been telling Maria that Trang recently  informed me that she greatly admires them) and wondered where we were from. He is also teaching English in Da Nang. It's a small world.

2.17.12
Maria still had to teach on Friday morning, but by then Lam had arrived and so he and I went back to Bread of Life for breakfast. The cab driver asked me if I was Malaysian. No? Thai, then? Nope, American. Now I am especially curious to go to Malaysia and find out if I fit right in. Wouldn't it be funny if they, instead, guessed that perhaps I am Vietnamese? This time at Bread of Life I had an 'Australian burger', a burger with a hard fried egg on top, plus bacon. It was a good start to the day. Lam and I decided to brave the weather and took a short walk along the Han River to get a better view of its famous bridge. On the way we saw a dead bird, and once there we saw a pig's cadaver washed up on the waterside. If we'd seen a third dead animal it might have felt like a bad omen.

One of two not-omens

Bridge in the background

Because we were still waiting for more ETAs to arrive, my original plan had been to spend the day on the beach and to go to Huế on Saturday. However, given the weather and the fact that my real objective was to see Huế, I decided to leave on Friday. Lam and I returned to meet Maria after her class and the three of us went to the train station to catch the 2:42pm train to Huế. It was the most scenic transportation option, and I imagine that the scenery would have looked quite different on a sunny day. We wound around mountains whose tops disappeared into the clouds, and below we could see waves breaking on the rocky beach.

We arrived in Huế in the late afternoon, and our first task was to find a place to stay. We lucked out with the Why Not? Hotel, whose rates were actually cheaper than the hostel's, and who provided us a daily free beer and 10% off everything at their restaurant. Naturally, we went there for dinner. I tried some Hue specialties, but they were slightly lackluster, probably because it was a tourist-oriented restaurant rather than a food stand.

Huda, one of three locally brewed beers

Bánh bè

Bánh nậm

Then, we went to the riverside to go on a dragon boat and listen to ca Huế (local music). We laughed at how the many strange things that happen in Vietnam are not even worth questioning anymore. We had booked the ride through our hotel, and to get to the Perfume River we were instructed to just 'follow the guy on the motorcycle.' So, he rode, and we walked. Perfectly normal. Furthermore, when it was time to get on the boat, we had to walk a rickety plank while the boat swayed on the rough water. Three men and one woman played instruments, while four women sang and provided the rhythm section. The most interesting 'instrument' was what I call the teacup castanets. The women held two teacups in each hand, one teacup inside the other, and clacked them together.

[More videos here, here, here, and here.]

They are wearing traditional Hue headdresses with their ao dai

They played for about an hour. Near the end, they gave us paper lanterns to put in the river. We were supposed to make a wish as we did so, but my candle went out as soon as the lantern touched the water, so I'm not too confident about the fate of my wish. I should have wished for it to stop raining.

Paper lanterns on the Perfume River

2.18.12
We had grand plans for a thorough Saturday but, like I said, the weather disagreed. We were joined by Violet and Vincent, who had a harrowing midnight adventure up from Da Nang. Our first stop was a place famous for it's bún bò huế. This noodle soup is popular throughout Vietnam but, like it's name suggests, it originated in Huế. I had never had it, so I was excited to try it. In an effort to have a more accurate experience, I dared to drizzle it in a deep red chili sauce. Soon after, I was regrowing the skin in my mouth, but enjoying my soup all the same. Despite the slightly unusual meats (thinly sliced beef was accompanied by giant meatballs of shrimp and maybe pork) and the degree of burn, it didn't ultimately feel particularly different from any other noodle soup. I will say, though, that the weather in Vietnam had never before been more suitable for soup.

We decided that our tender mouths needed some soothing, so we sought dessert. By the time we finished our fried bananas with chocolate sauce, schedule dictated that we were supposed to have been there done that with our first sight, the Imperial City. Instead, we had had two meals and rented motorbikes at less than half of the price quoted by our hotel. By now, Sasha (ETA in Vinh) had arrived in Huế and our contingent was complete. We reconvened and made our way to the Imperial City.

Maria had been before so she didn't join us, but she had been generally disappointed by the Imperial City, so she had cautiously talked it down a lot prior to our visit. I don't know if it was because of this or in spite of it, but I really enjoyed it. There certainly wasn't much, most of it was destroyed during the war, but it had so much ambiance, especially with the weather, that roaming the grounds of what once was felt plenty interesting.

Just inside the Citadel walls

Group picture!

Group picture with the turtle topiary

Further interest was contributed by the following animal friends:

By the end of our meanderings we were quite ready to warm up, and did so with a western meal and our free beers. We all needed some time to thaw, so we went back to our hotel rooms. Vincent, Violet's friend, teaches with her in Tra Vinh but through another program, and he knew some people from his program working in Huế. His friends invited us to eat with them at 'the best vegetarian restaurant' in Huế and despite my misgivings I consented to attend. As each dish came out I kept looking for the meat, and kept having to dejectedly remind myself that it just wasn't going to show up. I felt bad because our hosts clearly thought they were giving us a special treat, and I'm not sure I did the best job of pretending to be enjoying the meal. I left as hungry as I came, despite partaking in every course, and had to supplement my dinner on my own, later.

 Two more locally brewed beers.

2.19.12
On Sunday we went to the tomb of Emperor Khải Định, the second-to-last emperor. Even though I read about the incongruous relationship between its interior and exterior, I was still surprised when I went inside. On the outside it was large, dark, and imposing, while the inside was bright, intricate, and breathtaking. The walls were decorated with bas-relief mosaics made with glass and pieces of pottery. According to my guidebook, painters used their feet to make the dragon mural on the ceiling. I wondered if they used their feet to wield brushes, or whether it was a foot version of finger-painting. With the precedent of the Imperial City, I was surprised by the seemingly perfect condition of the tomb. It made me wish I had more time in Huế to see more tombs or that, at the very least, the weather had been more conducive to sightseeing. Next time?

Huế's very unusual Cathedral

Approaching the tomb

With some of the tomb's guardians

Looking out from the tomb

Foot-painted mural

Mosaics

The inner sanctum

Statue of the emperor

We bussed back to Da Nang in the afternoon, and a twenty minute rest stop finally gave me a moment at the beach, though not at all how I had imagined it. The water was so warm it was tempting to get in just to get out of the cold.

From Da Nang I flew to HCMC, but because my flight was delayed I got in too late to take the last bus to Ben Tre.

2.20.12
I arrived in Ben Tre at 1230 and I'd had to reschedule my morning translation class to the afternoon. I had intended to use my Texas powerpoint in class, but the projector failed to cooperate with my computer again. So, I just gave the verbal part of the presentation, and had a different student translate to the class one slide's worth of information. I was pleased when there were times where I could tell if the student had made a mistake or which part they needed me to repeat. After that I had them ask me questions about Texas through a classmate working as an interpreter. I was a little disappointed when a student raised her hand to inform me that class was over and ask me to let them go, but she caught up to me on the staircase and explained that they were expected to return the keys to the classroom at that time. Moreover, she told me that she found my presentation very interesting and wished that she could have asked many more questions.