...it was a short walk to lunch where we we greeted by a friendly dragon.
Lunch done, it was back on the bus to visit a palace of the emperors. Alighting from the bus, we crossed the moot...
...and through the gate...
...onto the imperial grounds. Within the grounds was another walled enclosure - the Vietnamese equivalent of the Forbidden City. The main entrance had five gate. The center one was for the emperor. The one either side of it was for members of his court. The remaining two gates were one each for horses and elephants.
The tablets below designated where each mandarin should stand in the presence of the emperor.
A little longer in the ancient past...
...before passing back out through the elephants gate and then the outer gate.
The last stop before returning to the ship was a quick visit to a local market.
The existence of this posting verifies that we survived the harrowing drive back to the ship that included finding a truck with a broken axle...in the middle of the road...on a blind curve...on a steep grade...with oncoming traffic weaving around it on our side of the road.
Once aboard, from our balcony...
...we watched a fisherman scull by in a boat of woven reeds made watertight with tree tar.
In the evening, the ship sailed for Saigon.
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Beautiful photos. I love the red ceiling. Glad you survived the drive :)
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