Hue

Hue, Vietnam
RAIN!

Tuesday 10th.   Hue, the Imperial City.

A late start as it was raining really hard when we woke up,  but no problem as we were in a relaxed mood, and I got a table napkin folding lesson from the waiter at breakfast.  I will share Simon!  Later we spent several hours at the The Forbidden Purple City, which is inside the gigantic Hue Citadel.   It was first built in the early 1800s, eunuchs and concubines etc.  Parts of it were destroyed in various wars and there are ongoing reconstruction projects. Just to give you a feel for how large the area is, the outer city wall is 11km long. The colors were incredible in the rain, and we pretty much had the place to ourselves! The photos don't do it justice.

A little bit of detail

Doug loved these gargoyles.  The roofs funnel the rain out of their mouths.

Wednesday 12th. Hue.  DMZ.

We hired a guide to take us around the DMZ.  Doug was stationed in this area in 1967. Doug says that after 43 years it should have been no surprise that the combat bases were long overtaken  by lush forests, villages and small towns.   The rock pile was the only recognizable feature and it was surrounded in mist and cloud.  North of the 17th parallel, which divided North and South, we toured a three story  tunnel complex built by the villagers as bomb shelters.  Hundreds of people lived in these narrow tunnels, and it was really claustrophobic.  The deepest level was 23 meters underground.   There were lots of  bomb craters (awful) around the tunnel area, but the tunnels had stayed intact. Our guide, Minh, was from the south and was in the Southern army in 1972. A good history lesson for me.  We also saw tapioca plants and coffee beans.

American tank

And this was theVietnamese artillery.

The Rock Pile

Tapioca root and plants behind.

 Coffee Beans