Wonderful Night in Hue
Hi again,
Two posts in one day, wow. It is raining pretty hard right now. Kelly says she read that Hue is the rainiest city in Vietnam, and considering what's coming down right now, in the dry season, that doesn't surprise me. Now I know why they are selling plastic ponchos everywhere we go.
Well, after my last post we went out to dinner, it was very nice. We had a mix of western and Vietnamese food again, and a great desert of home made sorbet and ice cream. The atmosphere in the restaurant was really nice too. They had a bunch of different hand made lighting, and a huge (over 50 ft long) abstract dragon winding around on the ceiling (and they were selling it for only $180).
After dinner Kelly wanted to take a walk along the river (the opposite direction from our hotel). When we got there, groups of dragon boats were lined up on the shore and women were yelling to us asking us if we wanted to go on a boat ride with music. Initially we said no, but it didn't take us long to realize it was something we actually wanted to do. They told us the ride had traditional music, cost $5 and was an hour long. When we got onto the boat we realized that we were the only westerners there, however, judging by all the cameras not the only tourists; however, I think almost everyone else there was Vietnamese.
On the ride out, the girl sitting in front of us struck up a conversation with us. She was about our age (24) and with her boyfriend. They were both from Da Nang, where she is a university student studying English. We talked about our plans, and what we have seen so far, as well as where we are going next.
The music was very good. There was both singing and traditional instruments (including porcelain tea cups which several of the women were very adept with). Most of the singing was done by women, but at one point there was a duet with one of the men playing a string instrument (I'm not sure what instrument it was). This duet was apparently a very funny song, both of the singers went back and fourth, I think singing about one another. Everybody on the boat was laughing very loud at what they were saying. Judging by the singer's laughter, we thing that the song might have even been improv (it seems unlikely they would be laughing too since they do this every night, unless that is part of Vietnamese humor). We felt a little awkward though, being the only ones who didn't get all the jokes.
Just before the last song they stopped playing and lit a bunch of candles which they placed in small paper rafts (shaped like simple flowers). They handed these out to people and we all placed them in the river for good luck. With all the other boats in the vicinity doing the same thing it was a very beautiful sight.
When we got back to shore we walked along the river a little more. I tried to take pictures of the bridge all lit up and changing colors, but I don't have a tripod so this was very difficult. They also light up the cell towers in town, making them amazingly attractive. They look like slender Eiffel towers lit up with bands of white and red.
Well, that's all for now.
-Tim
Two posts in one day, wow. It is raining pretty hard right now. Kelly says she read that Hue is the rainiest city in Vietnam, and considering what's coming down right now, in the dry season, that doesn't surprise me. Now I know why they are selling plastic ponchos everywhere we go.
Well, after my last post we went out to dinner, it was very nice. We had a mix of western and Vietnamese food again, and a great desert of home made sorbet and ice cream. The atmosphere in the restaurant was really nice too. They had a bunch of different hand made lighting, and a huge (over 50 ft long) abstract dragon winding around on the ceiling (and they were selling it for only $180).
After dinner Kelly wanted to take a walk along the river (the opposite direction from our hotel). When we got there, groups of dragon boats were lined up on the shore and women were yelling to us asking us if we wanted to go on a boat ride with music. Initially we said no, but it didn't take us long to realize it was something we actually wanted to do. They told us the ride had traditional music, cost $5 and was an hour long. When we got onto the boat we realized that we were the only westerners there, however, judging by all the cameras not the only tourists; however, I think almost everyone else there was Vietnamese.
On the ride out, the girl sitting in front of us struck up a conversation with us. She was about our age (24) and with her boyfriend. They were both from Da Nang, where she is a university student studying English. We talked about our plans, and what we have seen so far, as well as where we are going next.
The music was very good. There was both singing and traditional instruments (including porcelain tea cups which several of the women were very adept with). Most of the singing was done by women, but at one point there was a duet with one of the men playing a string instrument (I'm not sure what instrument it was). This duet was apparently a very funny song, both of the singers went back and fourth, I think singing about one another. Everybody on the boat was laughing very loud at what they were saying. Judging by the singer's laughter, we thing that the song might have even been improv (it seems unlikely they would be laughing too since they do this every night, unless that is part of Vietnamese humor). We felt a little awkward though, being the only ones who didn't get all the jokes.
Just before the last song they stopped playing and lit a bunch of candles which they placed in small paper rafts (shaped like simple flowers). They handed these out to people and we all placed them in the river for good luck. With all the other boats in the vicinity doing the same thing it was a very beautiful sight.
When we got back to shore we walked along the river a little more. I tried to take pictures of the bridge all lit up and changing colors, but I don't have a tripod so this was very difficult. They also light up the cell towers in town, making them amazingly attractive. They look like slender Eiffel towers lit up with bands of white and red.
Well, that's all for now.
-Tim
This entry was posted
on Sunday, February 05, 2006 at 9:59 AM.
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11:04 AMI suppose you really need that tripod --- so I will bring it to you on the next available flight --- I may need some help getting it there --- anyone care to help me --- ;-)
Wow --- it sounds like you two had a very romantic and fascinating night --- should I expect a 60 foot dragon in the mail --- Dad - H
Dad - H
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