Today started off with a fun breakfast with our waiter, Nam (aged 33, but looked 16) made us Vietnamese coffee (coffee with condensed milk over ice - awesome, but cloyingly sweet), Vietnamese yogurt with passion fruit (delicious) and green tea to soothe the soul & relieve the stress (not that we had any at the moment).
The Citadel is Hue's Imperial City, built by emperor Gia Long beginning in 1804 for the exclusive use of the emperor & his household. It encompasses 3 walled enclosures: the Exterior Enclosure or Citadel; the Yellow Enclosure, or Imperial City within that; and, in the very center, the Forbidden Purple City, where the Emperor actually lived.
Bridge to the main entrance of the Hue Citadel
Cannons just inside main entrance
Soldiers practicing their marching
(they had absolutely no rhythm)
Imperial City
Inside the Purple City
Barb, Barbara, Iris & Betty
As soon as Sunny announced that we had about 30 minutes of free time to explore the Citadel, Iris & I practically ran to the field where they were giving elephant rides to see if we could take advantage of the opportunity. After finally succeeding in getting past the language barrier, and paying for the shorter ride, we were led to a stand about 8' high, where we waited with bamboo sticks (an elephant treat apparently) for Ten (our elephant - we were already on a first-name basis with him). Ten must have had excellent eyesight because no sooner had the trainer placed those sticks at the top of the stand, he was on a mission to get there quickly. So there we were, standing, totally clueless as to what the sticks were for. All of a sudden Ten's trunk, looking like one of those monsters out of the movie, Alien, came through the bars of the stand and slobbered all over Iris' pants, which unfortunately for Iris, were between the sticks & Ten's quivering, salivating trunk.
After carefully maneuvering into the wooden seat, we took off on a short loop. The photo below was taken by the old man who was the operator of the ride, and he was not the most accomplished photographer by any means. This was about the only decent photo of us that he managed to get.
Our vegetarian lunch was at Dieu Thanh Monastery where 18 nuns followed a rigorous daily routine of prayer, chant, gardening and education. After lunch we had a wonderful Q & A with one of the nuns about her life in the monastery.
Dieu Thanh Monastery
Along the way to the orphanage we pulled over for a quick stop to learn how to make incense and the conical hats (non la) that are so commonly work for protection from the sun. (By the way, you see many people wearing masks - women more so than men - as a safeguard against air pollution and as protection to their face from the strong sun).
I volunteered to make some incense after Betty
did her attempt, which ended up being a very droopy glob
of incense that would have produced a major fire (ha ha)
If I could have managed to get one of these
in my suitcase,I would have loved to use it
at the beach and in the yard down in Florida.
At 4 PM we visited Minh Tu Orphanage, currently home to 170 children from newborns to a 23 year old. After a Q & A with Minh Tu, we visited with the children (it was a mad house - we just couldn't imagine doing their job with a very small staff of 8 nuns & 16 lay workers, some parttime & some full time). The kids were lively and very loving as children tend to be.
Our Q & A with Minh Tu,
the nun who founded the orphanage.
This little girl was a hoot!
She would run to anyone with a camera,
get very close to your lens, and flash the
peace sign with both hands.
I loved her and she reminded me of myself as a child.
I don't know what's up with the peace signs,
but it seems to be the first thing people do
when you get ready to photograph them.
This very busy day ended with dinner at Phuoc Thanh restaurant, then drinks and some dancing at a neighborhood bar. Right after we arrived at the bar, the young gals working there pulled enough small tables together so we could sit with each other. Then they came out with a tray of shot glasses containing a cocktail similar to a pina colada. We each took a glass, proposed a toast, then ordered drinks for the happy hour already in progress. Iris & I ordered mojitos, but Gloria was the clear winner with her "bucket drink" with 4 straws - which she didn't even offer to share. I think it was the same drink we had in the shot glasses.
Sunny, our trip leader,
lines up a shot during his
pool game at the bar.
Gloria and her bucket drink.
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