Sunday November 5th

John and Cindy's last day with us before departing to Ho Chi Minh City and on to Japan for a few days. We decided to take the widely advertized boat tour today on the "Perfume River", it takes in several historic sights and gives you a good view of local life on the river. While there is some fishing the main local activity seems to be dredging for sand or gravel from the river floor. This is done by dropping a big scoop which is guided by one man while others haul it back on board with a manual winch mechanism. Loaded boats appear to have about 3 inches (7cm) clearance above the water but luckily the river flows lazily and nothing much makes a wake.

First stop is Thien Mu Pagoda, whose tower is said to symbolize Vietnam. It lies on the river bank and is built with 7 concentric levels. It was a center of anti-government agitation at one time but monks seem to inhabit it peacefully now and a lot of renovation is going on behind the tower.

Next up we cruised down to the tomb of Tu Doc. He was the longest lived of the Nguyen emporers and lived in the height of luxury, although he gradually lost power to the French during his reign. He also built the fanciest tomb and did so while he was alive so he could enjoy his creation. There are pictures here.

After lunch on board the boat we headed south for a while to two other tombs, those of Khai Dinh and Minh Mang. We chose just to go to the latter to enjoy some more time... the former while impressive dates from the 1920's an has a mix of oriental and western elements. Minh Mang was more significant in history for the way he consolidated the power of the dynasty after his father (Gia Long) had won the country in war. His tomb is a very traditional arrangement of buildings and water.

After our dose of history we cruised in relaxed fashion back down the river. Then for a complete contrast we visited the market which even late in the day was still bustling and had plenty of people willing to sell us whatever we might (or looked like we might!) be interested in. Then we enjoyed another relaxing evening spending very little on good food.