Phonsavan: Plains of Jar

Our minivan, which wasn’t packed to the fullest for a change left Vang Vieng in the morning at around 9. There were only two locals apart from two of us, a Dutch guy and a French girl. The limestone mountains never left us, but soon we were in the heart of these mountains. Flat and straight road  was replaced by a winding road sloping up the mountain. The river along the road was replaced by a beautiful valley lush green with various kinds of tropical trees, bananas dominating among them. I was thankful not to have eaten too much as the minivan kept swinging us from one side to another. In spite of the ever winding road, the ride was beautiful.

As we finally hit the straight road again and arrived in Phonsavan, dust cloud was in the air, giving it a brownish color. This, plus the wooden houses along the road side gave it wild-west feel. As we walked in search of a guesthouse, the wild-west feel changed suddenly, and now the town seemed all Russian, rugged and dusty. Most of the guesthouses and restaurants display wide variety of bombs and bombshells, as if it’s a decorative item. 

Bombs displayed at a restaurant

Settling down in the guesthouse, we took a small walking tour of the town. It has only one main street and all restaurants and most of the guesthouses are along this street. A small alley leads you to the fresh market selling fresh vegetables and meat. There is a MAG office on the street, similar to Cope centre in Vientiane which gives information about bombing and UXO clearance mission.

Before going for dinner, we were surprised, when our guesthouse owner offered us home-made wine having opium fruits, which we refused. In the evening we were shown couple of short films related to American bombing and CIA secret war to give us the feeling of what happened a few decades ago. Phonsavan turned out to be on American radar and most of the bombs were dropped in this part of the country.

So this time our group consisted of me, Josette and the Dutch guy and French girl we met on the van. Next day, we rented a couple of motor-bikes for 80,000 kip each and set off in search of what we had come there for, Plain of Jars. A few decades ago, an archaeologist, found burial remains and a big jar near Phonsavan, which lead to the discovery of something special. Huge stone jars, assumed to be used in burial ritual, span southern part of the town for many a miles. The jars weigh between 800 KGs to 6 Tonnes. It’s an archaeological wonder and till now, there has not been clear information about their origin and time period. Archaeologists believe that these jars are from stone age and were used in burial rituals. Local legend, instead states, that the jars were used by giants to make rice wine. No matter what you believe, the jar sites are quite impressive and a must do activity if you are in Laos. Unfortunately however, these jar sites were not spared in the bombing and many of the jars were destroyed during the war. There are also UXOs on almost all the jar sites and MAG is working hard to clear it. Once cleared of all UXOs, these sites are mostly likely to receive World Heritage status.

There are more than 80 jar sites discovered till now, out of which 3 sites are easily accessible. Based on a map and directions given by the owner of the rental agency we reached Jar Site 1 in less than 30 minutes. Its proximity to the city means that this is most famous jar site and most crowded as well. Entrance to this site costs 15,000 kip. A small dirt road runs a span of the hill where you get your first glimpses of the Jars. The largest jar weighing 6 tonnes is at this jar site. There are numerous boards giving warnings about UXOs and also a couple of B-52 bomb craters giving us a chilling reminder of the massive bombing. Small red and white tiles placed by MAG provide a path and you are better off within these marked paths. There are more than a hundred jars here each differing in size and shape. Only one jar has a lid, and it maybe that all the jars were covered with these lids during ancient times. There is also a small cave having small stone mounds kept by people for worshipping. As you climb a hill, it gives you a clear view of the plain dotted with dark stone jars, some standing tall and some touching the ground. Yellow-green grass covers the plain and small seasonal flowers jutting out dance on the wind. It has every feel of a lost and forgotten place from the history of mankind.

A jar at Jar Site 1

A different design

This one had a lid and looked like a mushroom

Cave at Site 1

Second and third jar sites are further ahead and take at least an hour from each other. The road is not good and mostly is a winding dust road, at times covered with big stones or huge amount of sand, testing the tyres to the fullest! Second jar sites consist of two adjacent hills having numerous jars on the hilltops. There is a big tree in the center which appears to have grown straight from the jar thereby causing the jar to break from all sides. 

Jar at Site 2

Third jar site needs a small hike from the ticket centre through rice fields and a small rustic village with no apparent activity. As you cross a small wooden bridge and enter the rice field, you get a feel of being in middle of nowhere. You have to climb yet another small hill which is covered by many trees and stone jars lying idly in the shadows thereof. It can get quite breezy on the top and not many tourists come here. Evening maybe the best time to go to the third site. Tickets for both second and third sites are 10,000 kip each.

Jars at Site 3

Way to jar site 3 through rice fields

Having done all the sites and with a lot of time to spare, we decided to visit a spoon village. After lot of asking around, we found our directions and we were once again on dirt road, our bikes raising the clouds of dust as we rode through empty villages and barren landscape. Soon, my bike started to cause some problem and we realised that the rear wheel had started to give up and moving a little. Ignoring its pleas for repair, we continued on to the village. Before reaching the village we saw a cloud of smoke rising in the distance which must have been a controlled explosion of a UXO by MAG folks. 

An explosion cloud in the distant

Continuing on, we reached a sign saying “Welcome to the Spoon Village”. 

It a small village, probably consisting of less than 50 houses, most of them carrying boards of “Mr....makes spoons out of bombs”. As the boards state, most of the families in this village collect bombs or bomb parts and convert them into spoons, key-chains or other souvenirs to be sold to tourists. As we entered a house we saw a woman sitting near what looked like a small furnace with moulds, making spoons. She welcomed us with “Sabaiddee” and we sat there for a while watching the process. Soon, her son brought a small bomb to show us exactly which part is melted. The bomb still had the fuse (which is not a good sign) and all of us were pretty scared. He was trying hard to open the bomb and finally his mother took over the job. As she started to turn two parts of the bomb, the French girl ran away, scared and all of us held our breaths getting ready for an explosion. But finally when the two pieces came together, the woman wearing a wide smile now showed us the empty contents of the bomb. Still a bit scared, we returned her the smile, before moving out of the house.

Set up for making spoons

A kid trying to open a bomb as if its a toy

A real (but empty) bomb

We decided walk the full length of the village and soon found a red board belonging to MAG carrying a warning that bomb clearing work was undergoing and asking us to stay away. Dutch guy who served in the military for six years was quite courageous and he asked one local if he could go across the fields to watch them work. With a short and quick “No” we were turned back. But before we left, we caught a glimpse of MAG people at work, out in the field, probably trying to locate the bomb or having located, trying to evacuate the village.

MAG warning board

The spoon village

Maybe about 30 kms from the jar site 2 there is an ancient statue of Buddha and with some time still in hand we decided to go there. However, instead of going back to the main road, we decided to take a short cut which runs just outside jar site 3 and takes you through many small villages on a very bad dirt track. If I had a better bike with stronger wheels, I would have probably loved this ride. The dirt road ran through numerous rice fields, climbing up the hills before running down again, small houses would appear in between and hardly any people around. But soon, my bike gave it up completely and the rear wheel started to move viciously. It looked like a never-ending ride and at a particular point of time I felt that we might get stuck there. But as it turned out, it was indeed a short cut and before long we could see a tar road running right across a field. Pushing the bike further we finally hit a proper road. But we decided to take no further risk and took the bike to a repair shop instead.  The repairman shook his head and showed us the number of spokes that were broken due to bad road. He quickly estimated the amount of repair work which was kip 40,000 and was quite helpful in calling and telling our rental guy before starting the work. The rental guy agreed to refund us 40,000 kip.

The repairman was a fast worker and as the evening rolled on; he had already removed the wheel and started to replace the spokes. His old mother was sitting on a small stool, facing the road. Soon a few kids came there on small bicycles and one of them turned out to be his son. The mother, the repairman and these kids had something about them that in spite of such a bad ride, I was feeling quite relaxed and peaceful. Maybe it was the helpful nature of the repairman or the smiles all of them carried all the while. Maybe it was lack of any other activity. Whatever it was, half an hour spent at this repair shop left an imprint on my mind. And as I rode back on the plain street, sun setting down to my left and wind on my face, I realised that the whole day was a success and riding the broken bike was an adventure I will never forget!

Bike under repair

Vang Vieng, a quiet party town

As our bus left from Vientiane to go to Vang Vieng, I had already formed an image of this town in my mind, from whatever I read on Lonely Planet, Tripadvisor and other travel forums. A town with young westerners, drinking till they throw up, do drugs and get ready to die by jumping in the shallow waters of the river. This is what the town is famous for. Once not even on a map, this town turned out to be the most unlikely party place on earth!
When I got there though, I realised immediately that this town had changed from the times the stories were written in travel databases. Vang Vieng is situated along the river bank amidst tall limestone mountains lush with greenery. There are not more than three main streets in the town, plenty of guesthouses and restaurants and many travellers. But the place is much quieter now, thanks to efforts taken by the government to make it less wild by closing down many night clubs and taking strict actions against usage of drugs and the like. The number of deaths of stoned travellers in the river has also reduced significantly in the last two years.
Checking in the guesthouse, I came down on the main street and witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets behind the mountains.

Sunset and the mountains

As night started to gather, I expected an increased activity among travellers and more noise, but I was wrong yet again. This place has become rather quiet. Except for the live music being played at the Irish pub, the majority of the street was silent as early as 7 PM.
On second day, our group consisting of a Turkish couple, an American girl and a Japanese guy decided to go Tubing.Tubing is an activity, where you are dropped off about 5-6 kms upstream with tubs and you float down-stream. There are a few bars on the river-side where travellers stop to drink some beer or cocktails. We hired our tubs and started floating downstream and as it was a dry season, we had to struggle through lot of round stones hitting our butts. Also, because of dry season, it took us a long time (almost 4-5 hours) before we stopped before the last stop. Too much relaxing for me and soon I got tired of it! Still, if you are in Vang Vieng, be sure to do this, it is fun, at least for first 2 hours.
Next morning, we hired mountain bikes and decided to go to see a cave and a blue lagoon. The lagoon is located about 7 kms from the main town and the road is not paved. It is a dirt road and can be a bit bumpy. So make sure to have good bikes with good suspension before you start.  In spite of the bad road, the ride was beautiful. Muddy-colored road running through rice fields, spotted with small houses and all in the back drop of huge and stunning mountains. You can’t help but enjoy the ride. Also, if you do the hard work, you are more likely to enjoy the lagoon, which is a nice and quiet pool of cool green-blue water. Take a dip and all your tiredness will be vanished. In the afternoon and especially on weekends it gets quite busy, so plan to come on a weekday. There are a few swings to jump in the water and a big tree with branches hanging over the water used by travellers as a jumping spot. Also, there are small hut-like wooden structures where you can relax after soaking in the water.

Beautiful dirt track

Blue lagoon

After a bit of dipping, we hiked to the cave which is set in the mountain just behind the lagoon. A small, 15 minutes hike took us to the entrance. Just a little inside is a statue of a Buddha. Continuing on, it gets really dark and you are better off with a head-torch. We continued to walk through the darkness and ended up completing a circle in the cave before coming back to the entrance. Watch your footing, as sometimes it can be slippery and there big holes that can take the unwary deep inside!

Reclining Buddha

Cave opening

We started to ride back at around 4.30 and reached the town just before the sunset. Another beautiful sunset, this time with a large hot-air balloon floating mid-air, increasing the awesomeness of the whole scene!
As I left this party town for a quieter place the next morning, I realised that this is definitely not only a party town. There’s a lot more you can do than just getting drunk and partying. But for that be ready to go out of the town and explore the mountains!

Crossing the border into Laos, first stop: Vientiane

Our long bus journey started in Hanoi, in a sleeper bus of ok quality. I had no idea how long it would take and hence I decided to kill the time by sleeping as much as I could. Next day, early morning at around 5, our bus took a long halt. Getting up to see what was going on, I saw a number of buses and trucks on a muddy track, surrounded by green mountains and ever-present mist. Finally, our driver announced that it was the border crossing checkpoint! We got down of the bus, passports in hands, looking for any sign to show where to go. A little enquiry with officials there, we found Vietnam check post and got our passports stamped with a bribe of $ 1. Continuing our walk on a muddy track, for under a kilometre, we reached Laos checkpoint. It was unlike any border crossing I ever imagined to be! Hardly any people there and only handful of officials. You could walk through without anyone stopping you! Another $ 1 got us the entry stamp of Laos and we hopped on our bus once again, to enter into the heart of Kingdom of Laos.

Vietnam-Laos border crossing

Misty border crossing

As the morning took over the dawn, mist started to disappear and the mountains were more clearly visible along with a few houses at the base, hazy smoke rising from there. Further inside, rice fields appeared, dotted sometimes with a lonely monastery.

It took good part of the day, before we reached our first destination in Loas, Vientiane, the capital city. The evening brought more traffic to the street and for that two hours or so the city seemed quite busy (as against I realised the next morning, that this was the quietest capital city in South East Asia)! Trading its way through the traffic, our tuk-tuk took us to the river-side and dropped us in the tourist-friendly area.
We came back to the river-front and entered the famous night market. Sheltered under the red tent-like roof tops were shops selling juices and drinks, electronics, traditional Lao clothes, wrist-watches, jewellery and souvenirs.

Night market

It didn’t take too long for me to realise that this was indeed the most laid back capital in South East Asia. Lao people are famous for their laid-back attitude and relaxed life style and this culture is embedded in every establishment, may it be a house, a restaurant, a museum, a bus or a hotel. No one is in a hurry and it works best for you, not to be in a hurry yourself.  Another specialty is a smiling face. Most of Lao people are welcoming and always have a smile on their faces when they say “Sabaaaaideeee”.
We walked through the city, passing an old looking Stupa, before continuing on to the National Museum. The museum has a collection of old pottery and artifacts of archaeological importance, information and photos of Lao culture and ethnic groups and a huge department dedicated to history war in Lao, specially the American bombing.

Stupa

After our lunch, we went to the MAG Cope Center. MAG is a non-profit organization who are trying to make Lao a safe country by clearing Unexploded Ordnances (UXO). They train local people in detecting bombs and defusing them or safely exploding them away from harm to anyone.
As the history goes, Lao was officially a neutral country and had nothing to do with Vietnam War. But when the central Vietnam was heavily bombed, thereby affecting the famous Ho Chi Minh trail, North Vietnam started moving their supplies from Laos and hence the US bombed this country too. Apart from that, based on some accounts of US pilots, if they had any unused load on the plane, they were instructed to drop the load in Laos, as it was too dangerous to come back with full load. This resulted in Laos being the most heavily bombed country in the world, per capita. To add to the worries of innocent Lao people, approximately, 30% of the bombs never exploded and are still lying in fields, on mountains, in the villages or on roads. The most dangerous are the bombies, small bombs which used to be dropped out of a big container. There are accidents each year, people stepping on them, building a fire near them, children playing with them or someone trying to take these bombs to sell as scrap thereby earning some money for the house. These UXOs are what MAG is trying to rid the country from.
The cope centre shows mind numbing documentaries about the bombing and accidents that keep happening every year even four decades after the war. There is a good selection of photos and re-creation of a house made from bomb material, a common site in some of the towns in Laos. Apart from clearing UXOs they also help in recoveries of people affected by accidents, by providing them medical services and artificial limbs. It is possible to donate some amount for this good cause or buy souvenirs, proceeds of which goes into this activity.

Statue made from bombs

Recreation of bombies

We got out of this cope centre and headed to a famous monument just outside city centre, Patuxai or Victory Gate, which is a Lao version of Arc de Triomphe. It differs the original as it has Buddhist embellishment and also has four gates against two. The monument looks impressive from the distance, but gets less impressive as you come nearer. Some of the work is yet to be completed since a long time. There is a nice garden adjacent with a couple of fountains inside, a famous spot for locals to spend the evening time.

Victory gate

Fountain, gate and the sun

We continued to walk west-wards towards Mekong river and reached another stretch of a park and a long stretch of a side-walk along the river. As it was the dry season, the water had retreated to the centre in the bank and yet it was quite a wide snake winding its way through. We saw a few locals going near the water, through what looked like beach sand and decided to follow them. Sitting close to the water we saw the Sun sink down. This side was also crowded by locals, some just sitting and enjoying the view, some playing badminton, some taking a swim in the shallow water. There were a few boats doing rounds through the water. Checking the map, we realised that other side of the river was Thailand. It was a weird feeling to know that we could actually see Thailand, sitting on edge of Laos!

Mekong, overlooking Thailand

Hanoi- last few days in Vietnam

As our bus from Hue finally reached the famous old quarter in Hanoi, I was flooded with memories of my trip here in 2012 with trippr group. My hostel was a 2 km walk from where the bus dropped us and this walk proved that nothing had changed in this old quarter of the city. Streets named after the merchandise being sold there, overhanging yellow roofs shadowing part of the streets and displaying names of the shops, people crowding below these roofs on small stools drinking coffee or famous Bia Hoi or eating Pho and many hawkers selling fresh sizzling food items. Smells of beer, food, spices and many other unrecognizable merchandise mingles with the smell of cigarettes that so many people smoke sitting idly. There's a Sunday like feel almost every day in this part of the town. This city is vastly different from Ho Chi Minh city, in culture, food, accent and architecture. While Ho Chi Minh is crowded by glass buildings and posh hotels, Hanoi's old quarter is crowded by small old buildings with small alleys to enter and narrow streets. While Ho Chi Minh is more commercial, Hanoi is much more cultural. While Hanoi is as busy as Ho Chi Minh, this city has a grace to it, almost elegant and exotic!

Wandering through the streets, its very easy to get lost. Almost all streets look alike, almost all corners are same, almost all Bia Hoi joints look familiar and every street is a busy street!
After spending a few hours though, a map in hand, I got my bearings and was able to find my way towards Hoan Kiem Lake. The lake has an island in the middle with a beautiful structure on it. The side-walk around the lake is crowded by tourists and locals alike, most of them enjoying ice-cream. At one corner of the lake is a famous ship-shaped building hosting various cafes and restaurants on each of its five levels. From there, tourists enjoy the view of the busy street below or the calm waters of the central lake while sipping coffee or a beer.

The famous ship-shaped building

View from one of the cafes in the building

Hoan Kiem lake in the night

One thing, different from my last visit here in September 2012, was the temperature. It was much colder, 8 during the day and soon I began to feel it. So I decided to head to the market street to buy a decent jacket, just a few minutes from the lake. As I walked through the market street, my each gaze towards the shops attracted pleas from owners "very cheap", "you want?", "how much do you pay?" etc. Nodding and smiling in courtesy at first and then just ignoring the repeated pleas, I continued my way till the end of the street. The street and the market are filled with all varieties of goods. First section may be for the clothes and jackets, then food and spices, further on there will be fruits, sports shops, shoes, make up boxes, alcohol, souvenirs, art work and so on.

Art shop

Clothing

Souvenirs

A typical street in Hanoi

Soon, I forgot my initial objective of finding a jacket and was lost in the colors, aromas and variety in the market and the chaos on the street!
No visit to Hanoi is complete without going to a Bia Hoi place and for more authentic experience, be ready to walk a little to find a place only with locals. I found one and saw a look of surprise on owner's face as perhaps not many tourists go there. As I sat down on a free small stool, my knees almost touching the floor, the owner brought me a glass of fresh Bia Hoi. The place was flocked only by locals (except me). Those present were families, college going kids, colleagues at work. As the evening wore on, the place became more and more crowded. Soon three of owner's daughters began to serve as well and two of his sons were taking care of the motor-bikes for the customers, valet-parking. There was loud discussions about the day at work, or may be politics, laughter at various tables, at a random table a guy would make an excuse to go home but his friends would force him to sit back and drink more. It was a busy place and the owner and his family would run back and forth from the Bia Hoi containers to various tables, removing empty glasses from the tables and replacing them with the filled ones! What felt like a noisy place at first, made me almost go into the trance and I started to enjoy myself. I must have spent at least a couple of hours there, doing nothing, just observing! The experience was something that is very difficult to write down or explain and one should try it out for himself.

Bia Hoi place

I loved this city and did not want to leave it. I spent more than five days here and though I saw a couple of museums and went to a few cosmopolitan pubs, these were not the highlights. The real feel of the city is in wandering aimlessly through the exotic streets of old quarter, eating street food, buying from cheap local market, drinking Bia Hoi and observing the busy life through laid back eyes!

As my last day in Vietnam arrived, I felt it arrived too soon and I started to feel an urge to stay more. But I knew this was not going to be my last visit here and I would definitely visit this country again! This country was about speed and now I was going to its neighbor Laos which is known for its slow pace. With a heavy heart and load full of brilliant memories I said my goodbye to the city of pace, culture, food and amazing people and hopped on my bus to Laos!

A day in the imperial city of Hue

Palaces, temples, pagodas, royal tombs, culture and cuisine. This is what Hue is famous for and attracts numerous tourists every year.
Our bus from Hoi An took about 4 hours to reach Hue and immediately we were surrounded by touts telling us about cheap hotels. Checking into the cheapest hotel we could find, we set off on foot to explore the town in the evening. You are always hungry in Vietnam and so first thing we found was a decent restaurant serving vegetarian food. The restaurant had an imperial splendour and food served was straight out of royal cuisine.
The famous Perfume River splits the city in two and we headed towards it. Soon we reached a busy bridge which takes the folks to the other side that houses the famous Citadel and the Imperial Palace within.  The river itself has a vast bank and a strong current. Crossing the bridge and taking the street to the left we saw a bright yellow light illuminating a stone structure and realised that it was the famous Citadel. Crossing a very small bridge we passed under the Citadel entrance. Inside was a tar road running in the Citadel and a few vehicles. Just near the entrance were a few cannons protecting the imperial walls and peace within (well as in turned out, not in reality). In the centre was a big tiled square crowded by kids skating. There were a few people renting out the skating shoes surrounded by the new –comers. We had to watch our way as we traded through this crowd. Continuing on the street within we came across a gate which seemed to be an entrance to Imperial Palace, but it was of course closed since it was past evening. So we took a U-turn and headed back to our hotel.

Entrance to the Citadel

Citadel Centre

Perfume river

The next morning we rented a cycle for a dollar and went to the Citadel once again. The main Citadel is surrounded by a moat in which water flows from the Perfume River, providing first level of defence. The whole Citadel and Imperial palace within were constructed by kings of Nguyen dynasty. Imperial palace is kind of a Citadel within a Citadel. The entrance to imperial palace is USD 5 which includes entire of this inner Citadel (or whatever is left of it after the war) and the museum. Imperial city served as a seat for kings of Nguyen Dynasty. There were palaces, houses and gardens for the royal family. Unfortunately, the most structures of this imperial city were destroyed during the war and only structure remaining is Thai Hoa Palace, a coronation hall. Its roof structure is interesting having two roofs to allow rain water to drain off. There are dragons on the top of the roof. Within are decorated pillars and a small gold plated throne which would have served as a seat for the kings during ceremonies. It’s quite beautiful within, but unfortunately no photographs are allowed here. As you exit the back door of this palace you can see a small documentary digitally recreating the whole imperial city.
Famous Chinese legend of Horse-dragon is present everywhere.

One of the entrance gates to the palace

Thai Hoa Palace

Dragons

Further out are the remains of what used to be the Forbidden palace. Forbidden palace was the residence for the king and no one was allowed inside except for royal family and eunuchs who were the servants, thereby possessing no threat to his rule. On the left is a hall which gives people opportunity to wear royal costume and sit on the throne. On the right is another hall which showcases actual clothes used by the royal family.
Famous Chinese legend of Horse-dragon is present everywhere. Statues in the square, on roof-tops or paintings on the ceilings and the wall. It was considered to be one of the most powerful force used by old emperors by giving the horse powers of a dragon.

Horse-dragon

Dressing up the royal clothes

Royal clothes used by kings

Ruins of forbidden city

Ruins of forbidden city

The Imperial palace is huge but as most of it is destroyed there is not really much to do here, other than walking through the ruins and taking photos. Occasionally you will come across workers who are trying to bring the palace to its former glory. The path leads out of another door and once again we were in the outer Citadel. Outside, we went to a museum which has moderate collection of royal clothes, jewelry, pots and arms.
We got our royal lunch at yet another vegetarian restaurant and continued our ride through the afternoon heat to Tu Duc tombs. It was a tiring 7 km ride from the city centre and the road was not flat. As we neared the entrance, the streets became more crowded with road-side shops selling antiques and incense sticks. Sweating our way through, we reached the entrance and parked our cycles for VND 5,000. The entrance to the tombs was VND 80,000. “Constructed from 1864 to 1867, the complex served as a second Imperial City where the Emperor went for "working vacations". Tu Duc's contemplative nature and poetic spirit is reflected in the landscape and arrangement of the 50 buildings that at one time stood here. A vast, sprawling complex set around a lake, with wooden pavilions and tombs and temples dedicated to wives and favored courtesans (Tu Duc had 104 to choose from). The courtesans' quarters are in ruins, with only outlines and crumbling walls left amid waves of overgrown grass and silence, but other areas are stunningly well-preserved. The Emperor's tomb itself, tucked away in the back, is surprisingly modest - the final courtyard is nearly empty with just a stone coffin in the middle.” (Courtesy: Wikitravel)

Courtesan's quarters 

A temple dedicated to Tu Duc

Elephant guarding the main tomb

Soldiers too

The Tomb

This was his wife's tomb

We rode back in the hotel with just 30 minutes to spare before our bus to the Hanoi left. It was a short time in this city, but I think it was quite enough. In just a day you can enjoy the royal palace, royal tombs and royal cuisine!