Day 13: 23 April -- Hue to Hanoi

Transit day again, so not so much to report.  In Hue it was a foggy steamy day - quite unpleasant.  After breakfast we took the bus out to see the royal mausoleum of the second last emperor of Vietnam -- Khai Dinh who died aged 40 in 1925.  He was a puppet of the French, and generally despised by his people for his francophile activity.

In keeping the the custom of the dynasty, he chose and planned his own final resting place well in advance of his demise.  The site is on a hilltop in a pine forest outside Hue.  It is a strange mixture of European architecture and traditional Viet /Chinese mosaics in gorgeous ceramics.  The tomb took 11 years to construct (it was finished after his death by his son) and involved 10,000 laborers and artisans.  It is quite a breathtaking edifice both inside and out.  In imitation of the Terracotta Army at Xian in China, the outer courtyard contains rows of warriors and mandarins to attend the emperor in his afterlife.

There are a dozen other royal tombs around Hue; and they have a grisly history.  Each emperor designed his own tomb; but the exact location of his burial within the grounds of the site was kept secret so that his body could not be disinterred later and his spirit disturbed by enemies.  To maintain this secrecy, all who prepared the burial chamber would be murdered and buried nearby as loyal servants of the emperor!  Volunteers anyone?

Back to the hotel to pack up; then an early lunch on the way to the airport.  Flight to Hanoi on Airbus 321 took 50 minutes.  Again we had the phenomenon of cabin filled with vapor from the cooling vents while we were on the ground.  It was raining (lightly) and quite foggy when we landed in Hanoi.  Nearly an hour's drive in peak hour traffic into the hotel which is on the edge of the cbd.  So we really haven't had much of a look at the city yet.  Its population is 10 million.  John tells us the capital is much more laid back and less progressive than Saigon, which he describes as "get up and go".  Apparently lots of French period buildings remain here, and modernisation is just getting going.

Our guide is very well organised young man (35).  His Ipad is loaded with information about everywhere we are going, as well as all the details of the tour group, hotel and restaurant bookings etc..  Buses cannot park outside hotels or restaurants, so mobile phone comes into its own.  When we are near ready to move, John calls up the driver who is circling or parked elsewhere, and the bus appears as we hit the sidewalk.  Quite impressive organisation.

Tomorrow morning we leave at 7.30am for Halong Bay.  We have been warned that it is a 5 hour drive there -- slow and bumpy.  Not looking forward to that, so hope the overnight on the 4 star Junk makes it worthwhile!  No blog tomorrow:  I'll cover the Bay trip on Friday night when we are back in Hanoi.

A few photos from today can been seen here.