This morning, we ate our last breakfast in Hue, ready for our last day of exploring the city. After breakfast, we travelled by dragon boat to the ancient and famous pagoda to familiarise ourselves with the culture and religion of the Vietnamese. The pagoda was in 7 layers, depicting the 7 layers of heaven. We also learnt about the monk who immolated himself to protest Christian government rule at the time, which eventually was one of the factors sparked American interest in the Vietnam War. The Monk and the car that he rode to the town of Hue in was stored in mint condition in this Pagoda.
On the return, we visited a locally famous local market of Hue where we experienced a rather persistent side of the Vietnamese marketers, who don’t usually get westerner (known as “Dai’s”) visitors. We also bought dinner and snacks from the supermarket, in preparation for our 12 hour train ride to Hanoi. We checked out of our hotel and had a final chance to parade through Hue for lunch before departing.
We mentally and physically prepared ourselves for the boarding of the train, as we had been warned that we had a seriously small, limited window of time to get all 26 people and their luggage on the train before it left the station. We got to choose the 3 other people we would bunk with and once we had set ourselves up in our cabin, we had a lot of fun sitting in our bunk beds and socialising in such a confined space. We have an early arrival in the morning, by early we mean 4:00am, so we are going to bed soon.
P.S – Jane I spilt coke all over my white pants. I think it’s karma, considering 1) I wasn’t supposed to buy soft drink and 2) you don’t let me drink coke. Izzy S
P.P.S – Hi mother, please have a maccas meal at pick up on Tuesday. Ash C
P.P.P.S – Mum, if you’re actually reading this, please have a soul press bowl ready for me at south road gates. Eva R