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Mandy and Neil Go Global
Hi all
So towards the end of the week, with Kimbers feeling better and her and Laura ready for some sightseeing, we headed out on a boat trip. The boat trip cost about $1.5 (80p) and takes pretty much the whole day. Its easily the cheapest way of seeing the outlying Pagodas around the city. And one of the most relaxed. Meandering down rivers is fast becoming my favourite way to travel. I might just buy a gondola to get to work if/when we move to London. I could sell Cornettos on the way.
Our first stop was the Thien Mu Pagoda. This Pagoda houses the car that took the self scarificing Thich Quyang Duc to his fiery death in Saigon (to protest Diem's rule. Try and keep up). Well, that's what the guide book said anyway. If it does, then it's remarkably well hidden. We walked every inch of it (it's not that big) and it was nowhere to be seen. There was a lot of restoration work going on to be fair, so it's possible that they've moved it or it's not accessible. Despite the disappointment my ghoulish side felt at this, the Pagoda itself was stunningly pretty. Because of all the restoration work, everything was freshly painted and colourful, and in the morning sun it positively sparkled. There was a huge pillar dominating the entrance, and in the gatewells there were some big statues of some scary looking dudes with big swords. I liked it, and it was an excellent start to the day.
Back on the boat and we were off to the Tomb of Tu Duc. He was the longest reigning emperor in Vietnamese history (about 35 years) and his tomb complex, which he designed and built himself, is huge. To get there, we had to take motos from the pier, which upset everybody a little bit, cos it wasn't like we had any choice but to pay them whatever they wanted. But hey ho, that's tours for you.
The complex was huge and we didn't really have as long to explore it as we'd have liked. Again, thats tours for you. To make matters worse, nothing was labelled in English so we weren't even sure what we were looking at. We're not even sure we actually saw his tomb. But the craftsmanship and decoration throughout was impressive in itself, and some of the architecture had Mandy lecturing. So it must have been good. The highlight for me was a huge ornamental pond with a pavillion overlooking it, that Tu Duc had had built so he could be inspired in his poetic scrawlings. The guy had taste if nothing else. Like any heirs. Apparently he had 104 wives and hundreds of concubines but couldn't produce a child. Smallpox is the opinion of the LP. If only I'd been around, I'd have helped out. I nearly said lend a hand then.
Before we left, some South East Asians (Japanese I think) recognised Laura as the celebrity she undoubtedly is and obviously had to have their picture taken with her. Much to her embarrassment (and our amusement), I have to add.
Back on the boat and off to the next sight, which can't have been all that cos I don't actually remember what it was. It was about now that I really started to feel culture fatigue kicking in. I mean, how many temples and museums can you look at before you go mad? Not too many I'd suggest. Unless you're a bit mad already.
Back on the boat and it was lunch time. Which was pretty good fayre, though not as good as what we were by now used to. But hey on a tour that cost 80p I'm not moaning.
After lunch we stopped at another cafe where the obligatory moto drivers were waiting to drive us to the next tomb which I think was Minh Mang. I'm not sure, cos we never went. Choosing instead to wait at the cafe and smoke cigarettes. The tombs are 50,000 VND sometimes more to get into, plus the cost of the motos to get you there. Although this is still the cheapest way of doing it, we were starting to wonder how much this was all going to cost in the end. Never mind though, cos two Dutch girls on the boat who we'd got chatting to went, and took loads of pictures to show us so that we wouldn't feel left out. It turns out that this was the most impressive one of the day. Pants. It looked stunning, even in the photos.
We also got chatting to two other girls who couldn't be asked with the temple. One was English (of Chinese heritage) and the other French. The English one spoke about 4 languages fluently and to begin with I really took to her. She had just finished doing voluntary work in Hanoi teaching English, and was holidaying her way through the rest of it, with a short stop in Danang(?) to help some friends clean up the beach. I though this was all very cool. Turns out she was a bit of a dick.
On the way home (after another Pagoda which was too boring to mention) she started spouting such absolute garbage as I have heard for a long time. She believes that by photographing poor children, you are flaunting your wealth in their faces and encouraging them to steal your camera. Come again? Apparently its ok if you're a journalist and going to use the photos for some good. Otherwise you should stick to photographing scenery. She was preaching this (and I do mean preaching) to a guy who was blatantly into photography, huge expensive camera, dodgy haircut, the works. How he kept his composure in the face of this small minded rudeness I don't know.
All I could think of was our mere presence here is flaunting our wealth in their faces. You think taking a photo of them is worse than eating in a restaurant, spending more on a meal than most of them make in a week? Is that encouraging them to steal food?
Fact is the average wage here is less than a dollar a day (53p) so in my eyes, everything we do is flaunting our wealth. How f***ing condescending to think otherwise. What, she thinks she has some idea of what these people go through? b******s.
And anyway, the point of travelling is to experience different cultures. And most of these cultures are steeped in absolute poverty. Its not just about the scenery. If it is, then go to the Lake District.
All this went through my head in about half a second flat and I was dozing off anyway, so once again I found myself biting my tongue. I seem to be doing that more and more, but I think it's about time I just started letting rip. It'd make me feel better anyway. Someone somewhere is most definitely going to get it. Stay tuned....
Anyway, that's about it for Hue other than the art that Mand keeps buying and us attempting to learn the art of the haggle.
Our first bit of haggling didn't go so well. This guy comes round the bar selling watercolours on silk or rice paper for $7 each. We eventually haggled him down to $5 each, and then 4 for $15. They are really really nice and after much discussion, we pick four gorgeous ones. We give the guy his dough, and off he walks, happy as Larry. So were we to be fair.
A couple of nights later, a different guy walks into the bar and starts showing the same kind of watercolours on silk/rice paper. The quality was every bit as good as ours, and Kimbers begins looking through them. The price? $1 each. $1 each? $1 each! We had been well and truly done. Ah well, what can you do? To be honest these paintings are worth every penny.
As it happens, we were in a different bar a couple of days later (where incidentally, a guy with one arm beat me at pool - I wouldn't have minded but he wasn't even that good - not that you'd expect him to be. We also met some French guys who we'd later meet up with again in Hoi An, but that's a different story) and in walks our painting guy. He's off into his spiel before he recognises us, and when I mention we bought from him a couple of days ago light dawns on him. Before he can say anything, I mention that he did us a good deal on them...4 for $15. And that our friend had just bought some and she only paid $1 each, and could we have our money back? I was only (half) joking obviously, but the guy looked really embarassed and scuttled off out the door. Bless him.
Our second attempt was a lot more successful. From the very first night we were there, we'd found some paintings that we really liked. I mean, there are art galleries everywhere but this particular one had two or three really really nice ones in it. We spent the whole time we were there ummming and ahhhing over whether to buy one, which one we'd get, how cheap we could get it for etc etc etc. Mand was in there pretty much every day we were there, sometimes twice, and I was in there very nearly as often.
The first quote the guy gave us was $120 which we laughed at and left. This was the first night. He later quoted $115. By the time we'd made our minds up on which one we wanted and how much we wanted to pay, we were well armed and ready for action. We offered $30 as an opening, and were willing to go to $70. We adopted a kind of good cop bad cop routine, with me being the beligerent b***** who didn't really want it (not much acting involved there methinks) and Mand (and more importantly the gallery owner) trying to talk me into it. After much haggling he refused to go any lower than $60, which although was less than we were willing to pay we thought we could get it cheaper. Mand said $55 just as I said $50 and the guy refused. We decided enough was enough and turned to walk out. Predictably enough, he chased after us and agreed for $55. They packed it for us and everything, and I'm still convinced if we hadn't been so quick, we'd have got it for $40. But hey ho, this was our first successful haggle and we walked away feeling very proud of ourselves.
The picture incidentally is beautiful. If only I could rememmber what it looked like I'd describe it for you.
That really is about it for Hue. I don't actually know how long we were there for, but it felt like too long, so we packed our bags and boarded our bus for the short hop to Danang and the Cham Sculpture Park, before heading on to Hoi An and some serious clothes shopping. Sweet!
Laters all
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