Hue was the imperial capital of Vietnam from early 1800s until 1945. The emperor built, in many stages, a complete residence surrounded by fortified walls and water trenches.
Many buildings were lost in 1968 to US bombers (Tet offensive). Whatever was left remained in decay for decades until being recently restored. Side by side you can see new and old structures. Very unique perspectives.
Sometimes in 1965 the US bombers began attacking a village located on the coast. The villagers initially built some air raid shelters but, when raids became too aggressive, they moved the whole village population (some 270 people) underground, in a network of tunnels, family rooms and common use rooms. They lived there until 1972.
The visit took us in 2 different tunnels on 2 different levels. Very hot and humid inside, despite being winter!
We arrived in Hoi An tonight. After the first 1300km the bike still runs strong. I adjusted once the rear suspension to make it harder. The front feels really tight and precise, especially on bumps. The side stand broke in Hanoi just before leaving. Whatever welding I did to extend it’s length wasn’t that good.
The bar still wobbles when braking, but not as much after I retrued the disc. And today, after idling for a long time, the coolant light came on. I must check level tomorrow or probably get some mud off the radiator. On top of that, I managed to crack the right pannier along a welding by dropping the bike on the side in a gas station.
All manageable problems.
It is located in the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. To get inside the cave, you take a boat and cruise the river for about 30 minutes. Then follow the river under a rock and from there continue through the mountain.
Even though we only went for about 1500m out of it’s total length of 7.8kms, the feeling was very unique. Just like in Tomb Rider, only for real!
The boat trip ended at an underground shore. From there we continued afoot through the corridors.
We moved south on the Ho Chi Minh Road (an upgraded, 2 lane motorway somehow following the famous old Ho Chi Minh trail). We were advised this way would be much more scenic than the coastal route.
The end of the second riding day found us soaking wet (continuous rain!) in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.
In the second picture, note the peasant in the far background who is using animal traction for agriculture, while the peasant in the center has upgraded to a lawn mower looking machine.
