the world for more than it simply is

Beginning from the previous Friday onwards until some time after into the next week is our class trip to Central Viet Nam. Boarding the train around eleven at night was a divergence from the usual travel via bus. I shared the sleeper cabin that night with Brian, Danielle, Michael, and two Vietnamese women on their way to Vinh and Hue. After a good twelve hours or so, we were in Hue–the city where I had been previously in July.

We arrived here on a cloudy morning. The rain falls in intervals and the streets become flooded due to poor drainage. After check-in at Bamboo Hotel, we were treated to a royal lunch consisting of banh it, banh khoai, and others that I will post pictures of at a later time. Afterwards we visited the Citadel (Dai Noi). I have been there previously on my last visit. Not much has changed besides the noticeable fact that reconstruction of this ancient site from the 19th century is moving along smoothly.

Before nightfall hit, the rain started as we stopped by Thu on Wheels to say hello to the owner. A few hours down the road was the traditional Hue music performance aboard a boat on the Perfume River. I think I would like to purchase a traditional Vietnamese instrument or two and ship them back to the states before I leave here. The night concluded with a dinner with Hac and Ngoc at Nha Hang Ong Tao, some time at Why Not Bar, and watching the film I Am a Sex Addict with Nguyet, Kara, and Hac.

The rain continues to fall today. It almost gives time a slower pace. I enjoy it. Since the weather did not permit the boats to run, our collective traveled by van. Thus far, we have been to two tombs and another Van Mieu. In an hour, we will visit the last two.

after.

during.

before.

Warm drinking water doesn’t seem to cut it when sweating buckets in Huế.  After dealing with the many hotel offers thrown our way after getting off the morning bus, we took a room at Phong Nha Hotel with all the usual amenities I have become accustomed to as a Westerner.  We rented bicycles for 10000d once again and went off to explore this city, which is by far much larger than Hoi An was.

The Huế accent is difficult for me to understand as I have only been raised to comprehend the Bac and Nam accents; thus, I find myself just agreeing with what is said to me.  One instance was this morning when I went back to Sinh Café to retrieve our bottles of water which we had forgotten there earlier.  My intention was to just say thank you and walk off if the bottles were not there.  Instead, the employee there filled up an empty bottle for me—the kindness of some strangers is sometimes baffling.  Another instance was during our stop for lunch at a place that sold com tam; a portion of the words spoken by the food stall women was difficult to understand, so I had to repeat what they said in my own accent in order to translate it almost.  What I did pick up from them was that there was a vast difference between the rich and poor here.

It seems to be that the case that a different system of societal class exists here in this country, in that there are those select few who are very rich, and then there are the rest who are very poor.  It is unlikely that a comfortable living middle class exists here as it does in other parts of the world.  I noticed this occurrence first-hand later on in the day on a cycle through a side-street of the city where the children played in cramped dirt yards, while their parents went about their daily labors.

Our visit to Đại Nội (the Imperial Enclosure) today was an exhausting one as the sun blared down on us despite the brief moments of light wind.  Inside this mammoth of an enclosure lies an ancient site where the Nguyễn emperors once resided.  Some ancient structures still stand here, but there is much reconstruction going on.  Within this location lies an ancient theater house where we paid 20000d extra to view a set of traditional Vietnamese performances which were introduced in the French language.  It has been ages since I have taken classes to learn the language so yeah.

Dinner was a bicycle ride to Đuong Lỹ Trương Kiệt for some Bún Bò Huế—which is the specialty of this area.