Day 56 13/11/2014

The Royal Tombs are dotted along the banks of the River Perfume although most a distance from the moorings.  We had thought about hiring a guide and mopeds to visit them but the response we got to our questions re licences was a bit vague so we decided to go on a boat/bus tour.  We had intermittent torrential downpours throughout the day so we were glad we'd hadn't got bikes and it gave us a good opportunity to make use of our ponchos!  We headed down the river to a local garden and traditional Vietnamese house and then on to the Thien Mu Pagoda which is suppose to be one of the most iconic in Vietnam.  Fair to say the access from the moorings wouldn't have met UK health & safety but we all survived.  Back on the boat we had lunch and then sailed further south to a temple (bit disappointing) and then moored at what seemed like a random spot to meet our bus and guide for the afternoon.  We weren't sad to say goodbye to the morning guide, he spent most of his time chatting to a Vietnamese couple and didn't really have much to share in addition to what you can read in Lonely Planet.  We hung around for about 30 mins for our guide and then walked about 50 metres to the Tomb of Ming Mang.  Back on the bus we then went to see the Tomb of Khai Dinh which was the most elaborate and very well maintained before going on to visit the Tomb of Tu Duc via the tour guide special stop to see conical hat and incense stick making.  All in all an OK day and it was good to see the tombs although they weren't quite what we'd imagined and both guides were disappointing.  We consoled ourselves with a beer on the way back to the hotel and then later went to Confetti, a lovely Vietnamese/French restaurant for dinner and a very enjoyable glass of red for Diane.

View from our hotel window - you can just make out the river in the distance 

Resourceful locals!

Making good use of the ponchos

Thien Mu Pagoda (and below)

Lunch on board our boat 

Tomb of Minh Mang 

Tomb of Khai Dinh