A day on Thu Wheels

Hue was our next destination before reaching Hanoi. Those of you familiar with Vietnam war history will recognise Hue and its Citadel for being one of the stages for the Tet offensive. As such, there’s nothing much to the Citadel these days; a pile of rubble and a few creaky buldings, a pale comparison to that once-magnificent seat of the Imperial government said to compare to the splendour of the Forbidden City in Beijing. What a shame. We were just about to deliver Hue to the list of places which are not really that great when we stumbled upon Cafe on Thu Wheels, a great little cafe just in front of our hotel. The friendly owner convinced us to participate to a motorcycle tour for the following day around the countryside. A good choice it was... good enough to redeem Hue from the hasty judgement we bestowed upon it.

For the motorbike tour, I opted for a driver, while Nick (who is afraid of riding on the back of motorbikes) decided to drive himself. It was interesting to zip around the countryside, led by somebody who knew where to go. The Vietnamese counrtyside appeared far wealthier than its Laotian or Khmer counterparts; most houses were brick and mortar rather than wood or bamboo on stilts. The first stop was a Japanese bridge, far more impressive than the one in Hoi An, and with a more authentic feel, with people resting under its cover to escape the heat of the day. Our guide Trang was friendly and knowledgeable. Afterwards, we were taken to a viewpoint high above the Perfume River, which was used for bunkers during the Franco-Viet Minh war then once again during the more famous war. Trang explained the name ‘Perfume River’ comes from the variety of flowers falling into the river’s waters during springtime, carrying their perfume with them until they reach Hue. Fact or fiction? But a nice story, nonetheless.

I have just noticed I’ve said nothing about Buddhism in Vietnam. Firstly, it’s not nearly as prevalent as in other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand or Laos. Monks are few and far between and pagodas are not the centre of village life. Perhaps the Communist regime has something to explain for it? Secondly, Vietnamese follow Mahayana Buddhism, same as China, Japan, Nepal and Tibet. On the other hand, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka follow the Theravada doctrine. I am not near as knowleadgeable enough to illustrate the difference, but I can tell that to an outsider Theravada Buddhism appears stricter and more orthodox. Mahayana draws heavily from Chinese Taoist and Confucian tradition, often displaying images of gods and goddesses alongside the Buddha. During our Tour on Thu Wheels we witnessed a chant in a pagoda; drums and gongs accompanied the chanting, giving the ceremony a happier, less solemn and undeniably Chinese flavour.

Our guide, jokingly, said “Why would I want to be a monk? No women, no beer, no cars, no smoking... always up early, no going out!”. It does express the attitude of the jovial Vietnamese towards monkhood. There is no tradition of joining for a period during childhood and again as adults, a highly regarded and followed practice in those countried following Therevada, where the sight of 5 year old children in robes is common. However, monks did play an important role in recent history. A monk named Thich Quang Duc, from Hue, left his monastery one day in 1963 and travelled to Saigon to protest against the treatment of Buddhists performed by the Catholic president Ngoc Dinh Diem. When he reached Saigon he sat down in the lotus position and set fire to himself, burning to death. His gesture was followed by several other monks around the country, becoming one of the factors to increase dissent towards Diem’s policies, dissent which would then culminate in Diem’s assassination. We visited Thich Quang Duc’s pagoda on the banks of the Perfume River, which still hosts the car he drove down to Saigon on that faithful day.

It was an enjoyable day which single-handedly lifted our impression of Hue. So, if you find yourselves there, visit Cafe on Thu Wheels! And now follow us for our adventures in Hanoi and Northern Vietnam...