By: Harry and Tilly
For our second day in Hue we started off with hiring bikes and starting our ride through the busy streets. The ride was an enjoyable but frightening experience at the same time! We were right in amongst all the traffic trying reach our destination through the rain. We arrived at a primary school and were greeted by excited noises from the 7 year old children from the school. As part of our arrival we sung the Australian national anthem and in return the children sung us a traditional Vietnamese song which was very cute. We had an opportunity to present the students with gifts we had brought from home which included textas, puzzles, colouring books, sports equipment and more. We taught the students how to use the sports equipment that we bought for them and it was extremely rewarding to see the smiles on their faces. We were all surprised to note the academic standards set by the children as no one was expecting such organised and advanced work from 7 year olds. Their handwriting was impeccable and their maths skills also impressive. Unfortunately we were not able to go outside with the students as it was raining however this didn’t prevent us from enjoying our stay at the school.
After leaving the school we continued our bike ride to the tomb of the fourth king of Vietnam. The tomb was surrounded by large walls to preserve the tomb and protect it from the elements. The entire tomb was specialised for the king’s interest in poetry and literature and so had a very romantic feel. Although the king spent most of his time in the palace, he would often escape to the reading sanctuary made within the same walls of the tomb. Vietnam Yellow also enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere here. The king had a large tomb buried thirty metres underground and on a nearby hill his first wife, the queen, was buried. The King had a total of 138 wives – some of which he had never even met! Despite having so many wives he never had any children as thus was the last king of the Nguyen Dynasty. He ruled for 18 years, but was very egotistical and raised taxes by 300% so that he could afford to build this tomb.
After the exhilarating bike ride through the rain in our fancy rain ponchos we walked to some markets which were unlike any markets we had seen before. Floor to ceiling of t-shirts, watches, bags and shoes was a haven to many of us! After bargaining up a storm we ventured back to Ushi for a yummy dinner.
Many of the students commented that today has been the most fun of the trip. The excitement of the bike ride and walking through torrential rain to the markets was unforgettable! We have all loved Hue and will be sorry to wave goodbye tomorrow morning.
