Crazy couple of days travelling through a Vietnamese Heatwave. Forty-one degrees Celcius with humidity is soul-destroying.
Had a stroll along China Beach which is where many GI's would have had their last R and R before dying. Poignant, yet a really nice surfing beach.
Climbed Marble Mountain.....remember it's a heatwave here. Luckily the day was young so it was doable..... just.
The Viet Cong hid out here and even had a hospital in one of the caves until the Yanks heard about it and bombed the roof out of it (see photos).
We drove up over the mountains through the Hai Van Pass. There are some bunkers here (mainly French) and the beaches below are where the GI's landed in Vietnam for the very first time.
Had lunch in a beautiful pearling village on a lagoon/lake whose name escapes me, but the vegetarian spring rolls were memorable.
Arrived at Hue the ancient capital to visit the tomb of the fourth Emperor. Lots of infighting and family feuds meant it was a difficult reign, but by this time I had stopped listening as the heat was bouncing off all the paving and we were over it.
We cancelled our trip to the Citadel. Most of which had been destroyed by US bombing as payback for the Tet Offensive, which is basically when the north and south agreed a cease-fire for Chinese new year in 1968 and so most of the South Vietnamese army was sent home to family to celebrate and many GI's got leave passes. The Viet Cong did not honour the deal and rose up all over the country and took lots of territory, which of course was gained back with much bloodshed by US bombs, napalm and agent orange. It was a turning point in the war and the US gloves really came off and it upscaled the whole thing. And for what? Lots of body bags on both sides.
After cancelling the Citadel, we retreated to our hotel, a very famous one in the 1960s as it was right on the river and was the favourite drinking hole for GI's in Hue. It is still in original condition with a few touch-ups. Interesting but not our best digs on this trip. But would have been a palace back then and good to see how they lived and partied when resting.
We ventured out again after a bit of rest for a sunset cruise which our tour guide very kindly substituted in for not seeing the Citadel. The river is known as the Perfume river, but sadly today the perfume consists of rotting garbage and oil slicks. Would not take much to clean it up and would greatly improve the experience. Sadly Hue was forgettable, but then again Hoi An is a very very hard act to follow.
Now we are in Hanoi and it is yet another eye-opener in an exciting way
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