Tu Duc Mausoleum Hue

I am getting behind with my blips but it’s an indication of a very busy and good holiday. So on Monday we woke to a very warm day with beautiful fluffy clouds. We headed off to the Thien Mu Pagoda close to the perfume river. The Buddhist monks who live in the temple here were renowned for their opposition to colonialism and the famous venerable Thien Quang Duc who burned himself to death in Saigon in 1963 in protest came from here. We viewed the grounds and the car he used to drive there. After visiting a local incense maker and hat maker we headed to the Tu Duc Mausoleum. It was a very grand place with a lake, walled garden and a house where he lived with his favourite wife. When he died in 1883 his body was placed in the Mausoleum.

After this we visited another temple where we had a 6 course vegetarian meal for a late lunch. It was very nice.

In the afternoon we visited a local market with one of our group, so busy and different to ours. Not much room anywhere with scooters zipping by. Great fun.