From Hoi An we wanted to
go to Hue but not by bus again but by motorbike because it is
supposed to be one of the nicest rides of the whole track from Ho Chi
Minh to Hanoi. So we rented three motorbikes with four people to ride
the only 160 Kilometers up north, which took us nine hours after all.
We first went to a
National Park that is located on a peninsula just in front of Danang
and is for some reason not visited by tourists at all.
Expect of
two resorts on the entrance and a radar station on the highest top
the Rainforest is untouched and just cut through by two concrete
streets that are only visible at the part where the motorbike wheels
keep the plants from overgrowing the road completely.
So you are riding through
the forest but still on an easily drivable road and after getting to
the top where the radar station is, you can enjoy an extraordinary
view over the whole bay and the mountains enclosing it from the other
side. A small both that sold ice cold beer made it perfect.
After
that little detour we went straight back to the big street that
should lead us to Hue and followed it until the trucks use a tunnel
and we used a mountain pass to cross the mountains. It was hard to
drive longer than 10 to 15 minutes because there are so many scenic
watch-outs on the side of the road. When the mountain road meets up
with the High Way that comes from the tunnel again, the really nice
part of the ride is over because after the last 60 Kilometers are
still under construction and you have to share the road with a lot of
reckless driving trucks and always adapt to the changing stages of
the road being built.
Still it's impressive and when we stopped
for some food just 10 Kilometers out of Hue and had Vietnamese Noodle
soup with fresh noodles a woman rolled, cut and boiled for us within
a minute. Our faces where all so covered in dust that, my finger
would leave a white stripe when I would touch my face.
I was
really happy to eventually get to Hue because after the long ride in
long pants, a long sleeved shirt and proper shoes, everything was
soaked in sweat or it's salty remains and I was obviously also happy
that I got there save.
The city of Hue was not to interesting
as I though, they have the Citadel which is the biggest tourist
attraction, but only seemed a little overpriced after going in and
only finding a vast area of still destroyed buildings from the
Vietnam War and Buddhas every now and then. The much cooler thing was
a abandoned Water park about half an hour out of town, which isn't
cared for since a couple of years because apparently a child drowned.
That means, you have a complex of Aquariums that ran dry over the
years with the bones of it's inhabitants on top of the dry sand and
water slides that are getting taken back by nature but you can still
climb up. A really special but also a little creepy place because
there is none in the huge area.
 |
| Oli posing infront of a burning Fuel Truck, why ever it was burning and nobody did anything |
The water park is the main thing
that we wanted to see in Hue so we continued to Phong Nah Ke National
Park after two nights in Hue.
