Highlights of Vietnam and Cambodia
Day Five – 21 January 2015
Weather – sunny, 23.
Yup. I was up at 5. But I’m doing well. Some of the others are waking at 3 or 4 and can’t get back to sleep. I went down to breakfast and found another amazing spread. Another omelet chef and a huge selection of hot items, fruit and breads with tea or coffee. Very nice.
We left at 8:30 and took a short ride to the Perfume river for our Dragon boat ride. Now, I know what most of you are thinking. Big canoe that sits one on each side with a paddle and a dragon’s head on the front.
Yeah, I was fully expecting to be handed a paddle.
No such luck.
The dragon boat is like a catamaran with a seating area on it and the front of the pontoons has a figure of a dragon on it.
And a really laid back captain.
Thom said the captain doesn’t own the boat. They are owned by a local company and can cost up to $50,000 a piece.
Thom pointed out two islands on the river and said they were called Blue Dragon and White Tiger because each are powerful animals and protectors in the Vietnamese culture. He pointed out a building that was several stories high and said that traditionally, nothing could be built higher than a building belonging to the royal family, but that the French ignored this.
We sailed for about 40 minutes and shopped at the table on board. I got two pairs of silk PJs for $14. At least I think they’re silk. They are pretty cool.
From here we walked up to the Thien Mu Pagoda.
This was built in 1601 when the ruling Lord of the region, Hoang, was told that a Lady in red was said to have appeared and said a lord was coming and would build a pagoda on the site. And he did just that.
We had a few minutes to look around. Off to one side is the car driven by the monk, Thich Quang Duc, who set himself on fire in Saigon as a protest over the treatment of Buddhist. The photo was seen worldwide and it even made Kennedy reconsider his support for the south. The car can be seen in the background of the original photo.
From here, we took the bus to the Citadel.
It is massive.
It was built to protect the royal family and is actually three components. The outer citadel, the Imperial City and the Forbidden City. It is not as intact as the Forbidden City in Beijing but the immense size and restoration going on is impressive.
The structure was damaged by cyclones and later in the war. It was even occupied by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese army for a month after the Tet Offensive. There is a huge flagpole inside the wall and for 31 days the occupiers flew their own flag. A massacre of between 2800 and 6000 locals who were sympathetic to the south occurred during this occupation. Apparently, if I heard right, there is no monument to remember the victims of this atrocity.
The Citadel was founded in 1802 by Nguyễn Phúc Ánh not long after he took control of Vietnam. The whole site is being restored by UNESCO and the main entrance is currently under restoration.
This is the first site in Vietnam to be named to the list of World Heritage Sites.
Just inside the main gate are five cannon that have never been used. They were cast from captured enemy weapons and the five represent the five elements – earth, fire, water, wood and metal.
As we moved into the Imperial City, we got our group photo taken and moved to the Supreme Harmony Palace where the numerous columns have already been restored by UNESCO. (No photos allowed in here). This was the site of ceremonies and there is a throne in the large room. The columns were considered symbols of the harmony between the king and his subjects.
After the Imperial City is the Forbidden City where only the royal family were allowed along with their servants, who were all eunuchs. Thom told us the servants were either boys who were born eunuch or were volunteers. The volunteers had to sign an agreement before the procedure as there was a risk of death. There were no pain killers or sharp knives, but there was a lot of rice wine. Then they had to fast for three days since they couldn’t pass liquids. Those that survived became royal servants though some rose to become men of power.
The servants were buried after death and their lost ‘organ’ was buried with them since they believed that losing a part in life meant they wouldn’t have it after death.
And while they were willing to part with it in life, they weren’t willing to go there without it.
We stopped into the theatre where the king usually sat on what we would consider the stage while the performers were back near the door.
Then at the library, we found what is not typical – the four animals all on one roof – the dragon, turtle, phoenix and unicorn.
This area of the Forbidden City had a lot of empty spaces where buildings had been destroyed in the war. A model of the entire Citadel in the Harmony Palace was a great perspective on just how large the complex used to be.
We walked out of the Forbidden City to a line of cyclos.
These are the one or two person seats behind a bicycle. These were one person cyclos and there were 23 of them waiting for us. Thom got everyone sorted out and we headed off for our Be My Guest lunch. The ride was thrilling. It took about 20 minutes or so to navigate through the streets.
And yes, I have video.
Our lunch is at the garden home of Mr. Phan Thuan An.
His home survived the war and is 2500 sq metres of garden that was planned and built in the tradition of fung shui which has a number of principles originally meant to orient buildings. The living and working area should face south. The temple faces west. There should be a screen on the main entrance and here it’s the rock garden just outside the door that functions as a screen. Symbolic dragon and tiger needs to be on either side of the entrance for protection. There should also be water in front.
Mr. An brought us inside and continued to talk about his home and history. Five generations of his family have lived in the house and he showed us some medals his father and grandfather had wore. He worked as a teacher until 1975 and since then has worked in the restoration of relics in Hue that were damaged in the war. He showed us a copy of National Geographic from 1931 and inside was a picture of the main gate of the Citadel in colour. It’s being used today to help with the restoration.
He was a delight to listen to and we sat down to enjoy a meal prepared by his wife and served up by his grown children. It’s the same style of platters shared between the table and some of the items were cut and shaped – like our salad which looked like a rooster.
A delicious meal and we got to say hello to the chef who was actually quite shy.
From here, we headed back to the hotel. There were optionals offered including the bonsai visit and the royal family dinner. I opted out of both to have the evening free. Don’t think anyone went to the bonsai visit but a number of people did the royal dinner and later said that they enjoyed it.
I went back to my room and did a laundry and stuff while I watched the two football games I had missed. By 10, I was ready to pack it in.
Go to Day Six
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