Hue and Surrounds 8/5 - 9/5

Yesterday we had a bit of a quiet morning which was very welcome after the bus trip into Hue. In the afternoon we went to see the Hue Citadel, set within a massive set of walls and a moat on the other side of the Perfume River to where we are staying. We hired some bikes to get over there, its pretty easy going cycling around once you get used to the rhythm of the traffic - ie there is no rhythm, you just go through and the locals seem to take a wide berth around the westerners - sensible move on their part. Opposite the citadel is a large stone monument, the Cot Co or Flag Tower, with a huge Vietnamese flag on the top of it, a pretty impressive landmark. The citadel however, is more impressive as it's an ancient series of buildings quite well preserved. The grounds within are massive and take in a series of separate buildings. You enter through the Ngo Mon Gate, underneath the Five Phoenix Watchtower and head towards the Thai Hoa Palace (which housed the throne room) and then head around the huge grounds taking in the other buildings such as a library, theatre, royal accommodation etc. The photos might do it best to explain, we’ll get them up soon. That evening we both had a pretty bland meal at the Hot Tuna Restaurant, a blatant design rip-off of the surf company logo - the design was the most exciting thing....
This morning we were up early to join a tour around the outskirts of Hue and beyond. We were picked up at 6 and had breakfast on route about 8am. After that we visited what is known locally as the ‘rock pile’ - a mountain which the American forces used as a lookout point during the Vietnam/American war, only accessible via helicopter. There aren’t any signs of the original base, so you’d be forgiven for thinking its an ordinary looking mountain, which it now is. The next stop after that was at the Da Krong Bridge, which also marked the start of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It took us a fair while to get up into the mountains on the bus so you can appreciate a little of the hardship of the soldiers and civilians trying to negotiate a tiny trail with huge loads in all kinds of weather. The next stop was the former Khe Sanh Base, now a small museum in the middle of a coffee plantation. They had a couple of small dioramas and some photos and weapons on display, outside they had a couple of old helicopters, one being your classic Vietnam War movie type chopper, the other being a more basic and therefore less glamorous transport. There was also a howitzer and some munitions, a pretty basic display but Khe Sanh was pretty much destroyed as a base so its a monument only. On the route to the Vinh Moc Tunnel complex we went past an impressive war memorial, which showed male and female soldiers contributing to the war effort. Our guide mentioned that females weren’t accepted into the regular North Vietnamese Army or NVA but many took part in guerilla fighting as part of the Viet Cong or VC. We later crossed the river by the Hien Luong bridge and saw the monument that marks the 17th Parallel, also known as the DMZ or Demilitarized Zone - a wide border separating the former South and North Vietnamese ‘states’. Our final stop for the day was at Vinh Moc, a massive tunnel complex on the coast by the South China Sea. An area that was heavily bombarded by US Forces, forcing the local populace and the NVA and VC to take shelter underground in a series of complex tunnels, set over three depths. The first incorporated soldiers quarters, the second deeper tunnels held meeting rooms, hospitals, theatres, civilian shelters and the deepest tunnels were reserves for food and ammunition. We all set off into the complex with some guides, the tunnels were reasonably tall, I had to stoop a fair bit but they are apparently a lot taller than the tunnels at Cu Chi in Southern Vietnam so we are glad we didn’t worry about visiting them. It was quite claustrophobic and a couple of times descending down stairs it was easy to slip on the stairs. I have to admit I stacked it pretty spectacularly going down one set of stairs, it was pretty difficult for me to move through so we only went through levels one and two rather than the deepest - we exited out to an entrance facing the surf which was quite pleasant after the tunnel. After a long bus trip back to Hue, we were very happy to clean up and get some dinner. We had the best meal since Hoi An, a shrimp dish with mango, pineapple and onion and also some chilli mushrooms - sensational. We are ready to go into food comas now though so that’s it for this post.