Vietnam: Hue (Part 2)

Today I want to see some of the old Vietnamese Emperor tombs [multiple emperors [[emperori??]]- not one guy with his leg in a tomb over here, an arm over there etc etc] plus the Hue citadel so I have a lot of trekking to do.  The citadel is walkable in about 20 minutes from my accommodation, but the tombs are between 5 and 40 kilometers away from the centre of Hue so I intend to rent a bicycle to get around.

Naturally, I rented a motorbike.


Walking down the road to compare the hotel's bicycle rental prices with a rental shop down the road, I come across a chap wanting to rent out a motorcycle.  I bargained him down to 130,000VD for the day which I thought was a reasonable price for a full day's riding (about 6 bucks).  My vague plan is to first visit Ho Quyen Arena, which sounds badass to me.  Back in the 19th century, the arena was used to pit elephants and lions against each other in a battle to the death.

A battle of cuteness!!!!!  (*･∀･)／♡＼(･∀･*)

Source: http://lapar.com/

I'm pretty good at reading maps, but the map that I am given from the hotel desk is vague at best, and inaccurate at worst.  Stopping locals and asking for help doesn't help either, as out of Hue central away from the tourist touts, no-one seems to be able to speak any English, and when they look at the map they develop a very confused look on their face and give the sorry I can't help you hand signals.  After some to -ing and fro-ing for about an hour trying to find this god-damned arena I finally give up and head off-road to find Tu Doc Tomb after a brief coffee at a cafe.

James needs his crack

A few kilometers away, after using my mental GPS system, I arrive at the end of a small dirt road and find a small empty tourist bus at the end of it which is always a good sign.  I pull up next to the bus driver.

"Is this Tu Doc Tomb?" I ask.
He frantically gestures for me to go up the hill past the closed chain.
Are you sure? I communicate waving my arms.
Yes, go that way! he flails back.
Thank You.


I proceed to drive the motorbike around the gate, and stop just in time to see a nasty string of barbed wire across the trees.  They don't seem to want me to go up there - but the bus driver does.

Bus driver wins.

Navigating 10 meters or so into the forest I can go around the barbed wire and up some small dirt trails to the hilltop.  At the hilltop I'm greeted with some concrete bunkers, and a spectacular view of the Perfume river.

Protip:  Not actually made of perfume.  Don't make the same mistake I did.

Not quite the tomb I was looking for but interesting nonetheless - especially since I have no idea where I am or what this place is.

The quietest place in Vietnam is what this place is.

After a few minutes of unusual silence the tour group comes clambering around the corner of a ridge.  It turns out this is a famous Vietnam War (aka the American War) location.
The tour guide points me in the right direction to the tomb I'm looking for - go back to the main road, turn right, and 2 kilometers down the road I will find it....  off we go!


Part 1: Lame
Part 2: Better
Part 3: Mildly educational
Part 4: Not Funny