Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Hue Day Tour Tien Mu Pagoda (3/3)

Leading us into the last section of the Tian Mu Pagoda ground was our tour guide with the red flag, along with some of our tour group people. The last section was so green! 

Going through the last door way....

It opens up to a wide green space. The breeze was really strong here and it felt like you were at the beach. Actually just behind the field was the river side, so it was very cooling here. And it was kinda darker and cooler than the other section too. And quieter. Maybe that's why I like this section the best.

The gardens here were also simple and minimal.

There are so many tress here. I love such places. It's just so peaceful here. And guess what. This section is actually the grave area of the monk who build this place :)

And here stood a smaller pagodo that was dedicated to him, for he was quite well loved by the people. A very fitting resting place for a monk. All these nature surrounding it. 

Lovely lotus flowers bloom here in the garden pond :) 

I can't help but take a selfie here. Sometimes it's the feeling you get when you visit a place that stays with you the most, and not the aesthetic of the area. Even a simple area like this, can let me feel so peaceful and welcomed :)

Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Hue Day Tour Tien Mu Pagoda (2/3)

 

Walking into the grounds of the temple, the middle part seems to be a community area with large halls and gardens. There were also more activities going on here, with prayers or lessons being held in one of the hall. 

Walking though the gates that divide the section of the temple. 

One of the building have a small deity seated at the top overlooking all that goes on below.

Prayer halls. Just like any Chinese prayer hall. We didn't really went in to take a look as it looked like a very local and private session.

In another hall, lessons being lead by monks in yellow orange robe. The image of this is so story book like, from those ancient stories where scholars are attending class in the old academy. I love the design of the hall with the tall and wide wooden door that is all kept open. It gave a very spacious look to the place.

At one area, you will find the famous, or in famous car which a monk Thich Quang Duc drove to Saigon and set himself on fire to protest against the government then in 1963. You can read more about that incident here.  

The last section of the area opened up to the lovely spacious garden, and what looked like a stage, or maybe it was just a big hall? The last section was my favourite part of the temple ground. Will show you more in the next post why.

Photo of my friend talking to our tour guide as we walked in to the gardens at the last section.

Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Hue Day Tour Tien Mu Pagoda (1/3)

The reason I booked a tour for Hue was because I didn't really know how to get around, or how to get tickets to visit some of the places that I was interested in. And since this tour covered everything I wanted to see, and it even includes lunch, I thought I might as well delegate out my headache to someone else for a small fee. Tien Mu Pagoda and the Perfume River was one of the places I wanted to visit as my friends have told me about it. 

The Pagoda site was just along the Perfume River, so it provides a very breezy and nice view while visiting the place. We can't really go up the pagoda, so it was more of just a visit and admiring the surrounding area. Luckily there were more to see than just a pagoda.

We were free to explore section by section, as long as we wait up for the group and the guide to catch up with us. It wasn't very crowded, and the surrounding was very natural in nature. Nothing very touristy about it. Very quiet and peaceful. I still can't believe this is Vietnam! Lol.

There are a few section divided by these gates. So we can just proceed further and further into the temple ground. The first pagoda out front was dedicated to the heavens, but there is also a smaller pagoda at the last section that is dedicated to the monk here. 

Some of the tower along the way....

Smaller pagodas? Stupas?

The local tourist tends to dress up more for photo taking than us foreigners :P

Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Hue Day Tour Starts

 

Our tour guide came to pick us up right on time at the hotel lobby, and off we went to join our small group tour. We were seated in a s small van/bus, just a small group of us. Even before reaching any attraction, it was fun for me to see the city itself from the inside of the vehicle. Motobikes are such a Vietnamese icon! You see them everywhere, and that is why I picked this photo as the cover of this post. Behind them are the walls of the imperial city. 

Outside the imperial city, there are also these guard station, or perhaps drum station? 

They were quite big. Hue as a whole looked so different from other parts of Vietnam mainly because everything looked so spaced out and well organised. I guess it must have something to do with it being an imperial city long time ago. With it's wealth, they might have the chance to design the city in an orderly and beautiful manner. 

Short drive away, we reached our first attraction. We were dropped off nearby and have to walk a short distance to the entrance as our van couldn't stopped there. There was a buzzling tourist market there that we had to walked through. It was just a small road, and not much haggling from the vendors. Quite peaceful actually. So unlike the Vietnam that I know of!

Local vendors selling all sorts of fruits at the street market. Do tourist actually buy these? I know most of my foreigner friends don't really buy road side fruits to eat. But locals do. And if I see something I love, I would too. 

Our first stop, the Thien Mu Pagoda. The lady in the photo above is our tour guide for the day. I thought it was so cool that she came dressed in a traditional clothes and wearing a traditional hat. 

Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Hue Day Tour Breakfast at Hotel

Our first morning in Hue, what a lovely view to wake up to! Seeing the mountains and river of Vietnam, and their national flag waving proudly in the sky :)  Good morning Vietnam indeed! 

We got up rather early as we have a full day's tour arranged and they were going to pick us up around 8am. So we had to get ready and go for our breakfast before starting our tour. Still, I found time to admire the city view and watched it slowly wakes up from the morning mist that covers it.

Lovely to see the sun slowly rising and the colour of the sky slowly changing.

And the mountains. Like a Chinese painting. So very Vietnam vibe. Maybe cause my image of Vietnam is stuck in my last visit to Sapa with the rice fields and buffalo in the mist on the mountains. 

Every breakfast of ours is a buffet breakfast on this trip. This was only our 2nd one, so we were still going strong. Me, loading up on my passion fruit. I also tend to love eating porridge for my breakfast, especially when it comes with all sorts of condiments. 

Now, let me show you how many times of sticky rice, or rice starch related dishes available. After a while, they all looked the same to me, and tastes the same. The only different is probably the toppings, or fillings. The one above looks like koay teow with ham. They have those very luncheon meat looking ham. 

Above looks like rice cake with powdered shrimps, or maybe chicken floss?

These looks like those Hakka abacus dish. It's rice starch wrapped in some type of fillings. I want to say yam, but I think it's also shrimps, lol. 

Seriously, I gave up after a while. They all look the same! And I don't really fancy them much, so I didn't try all of them. You could eat them dripped in fish sauce, that helps a lot too.  Apparently, such rice starch dish is a signature dish of central Vietnam. That's why we see so many of them on the table. 

I tried to eat a little bit of everything, especially things that are new to me. And as I aged, I also tend to preference vegetables. I don't really like to load up on fruits so much, but I really appreciate cooked vegetables if available. Raw vegetables are a second choice for me. 

I also like to have some pastry, cause pastry cost more money to buy at home, and we don't often have crosissant for breakfast. I guess it's kinda like a luxury item. And in Vietnam, they sometimes do baguette and croissant really well! 

I don't know why there is a tray of sweet cakes served during breakfast, but it does brighten up the selection! I think I did try some of these, specifically the colourful ones at the top tier. They were mugbean filled cakes and not really that sweet.

After breakfast, we went to the lobby to wait for our tour guide to pick us up. We saw that there is also a Coffee Shop at the hotel, and many people were actually inside the shop. Unfortunately I did not get to try the coffee there through out our stay.  I think it would be quite a reasonable coffee since so many locals seems to get their coffee from there.