Welcome to the imperial city of Huế after an 11-hour night train ride 🚊😴⛩ Geographically, Huế is located in Central Vietnam. In Huế, we noticed the first difference: it was already 8:30 a.m. and around 30 degrees Celsius. In the afternoon, despite the temperatures, we headed to the citadel of the old imperial city.
We entered the imperial city through the Noon Gate. Here, we take you on our observation tour. Small pagodas, botanical gardens, golden figures. Everywhere in the small streams and ponds, there were wonderful koi fish to admire and you could also feed them 🐟🐠You could buy the fish food cheaply and it was packed in small plastic bags. There was a trash bin right next to it for these bags. It is really a disgrace how many people fail to throw the bags in the bin 😤 Coline immediately showed her environmental heart and quickly cleaned up in one place 🥰 Shortly before leaving, there was a souvenir shop that offered many self-made lampshades and hats. In the evening, we went to the promenade of the Perfume River, where we saw a very well-designed bridge. A small selection of the various color plays can be seen in the following picture. As we sat there, a student approached us. She wanted to practice her English conversation skills with us to improve. This also helps us and that's exactly what we wanted: to have conversations with Vietnamese people. At first a bit shy, we exchanged information about her studies (dentistry), our jobs, and travels, and about the country Vietnam 🇻🇳. It didn't take long before 3-4 more people joined us. In the end, we were allowed to leave our mark in a kind of autograph album. There were already entries from people in various languages.Unfortunately, Jeff had health issues again, so we had to go back to the hotel. 18.04.Today we had planned to take a tour to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Since this was unbearable for Jeff, we canceled it and slept until noon 😅Luckily, this extensive sleep helped and in the late afternoon, we went on a boat trip on the Perfume River. The tropical temperatures are more bearable on the water. At noon, the thermometer rises to over 40 degrees Celsius ☄️☀️ 19.04.Good news: we were able to take the tour to the DMZ. This allowed us to delve into the history of the Vietnam War. The DMZ was the former border region between the communist North and the more Western-oriented South. There was supposed to be a ceasefire here officially, but unfortunately, the history of the war confirms a sad reality. First, we stopped at the Rock Pile, a former observation post of the US military. We didn't take a photo as it was just a mountain 😅 we passed by former and current residences. Then we visited the Da Krong Bridge, over which the Ho Chi Minh Trail runs, which was used as a logistical network of roads and other routes during the war. Before lunch, we visited the former military base Khe Sanh, which the Americans used as a fortress on a mountain. It became famous for the most intense battle of the Vietnam War. There were already many war reporters back then, which is why the war could be followed live on TV. In the afternoon, we went to the Vinh Moc tunnel system. It was almost like a small underground city. In these tunnels, about 300 people lived, and 17 children were born during the war years. Some lived here for up to six years. This visit was the highlight of the day, albeit a very depressing one.At the end of the tour, we visited a cemetery for fallen soldiers. The inscription can be translated as "Unknown Name." The tour of the DMZ was important for us to better understand the history of the country. But to be honest, we didn't really get to the bottom of it... Finally, we met Frederick in the evening and had a very funny evening: with a casino visit 🎰 and a drink in a 34th-floor sky bar 🍻 Side note: "hey, cool tattoo! Where are you from? Do you want to buy marijuana? Or ecstasy? Or cocaine?" We were often approached by motorcyclists like this 😅
Konntet ihr erfahren warum der Fluss "Parfümfluss" heißt?
Jeff
Wir haben uns darüber gar keinen Kopf gemacht. Bei Wikipedia gibt’s zwei Theorien: entweder durch auf dem Fluss treibende Pollen und Blüten oder durch den Transport wohlriechender Edelhölzer :-)
