28 Feb: Still in Hua. Better weather, partly sunny and humid.
We visited the Citadel, The Imperial City. . This place is HUGE and wears a person out. This is us BEFORE we started :)
I really AM short !!!!!!!!
Built mainly from 1804-1833 it consisted of 147 architectural constructions and was the most important center of political affairs and activities of the Court and the Family of the Nguyen Emperors 1802-1945.
The Imperial City was seriously destroyed by war in 1947 & 1968, and is gradually being restored. It covers almost 100 acres with 4 gates on the 4 sides, and moats, several moats
Now there are many beautifully restored Temples and it is still going on. What a job that must be! While we were in the Residence there were many people fixing locks & door jams and polishing the hinges !
There was a lot to take in, and i’m not a big ‘history buff’. I should have gotten the audio headset, but then you would have expected me to remember what i heard. :) I certainly was not as ‘invested’ in this day as i was the day before, on the DMZ tour.
I was, however, interested in the gardens and the flowers they had growing. Specifically the Cleome, which was 4 feet tall
And an entire court yard of Cosmos, Salvia, and Marigolds !
Here are some photos of Temples, but i can’t identify them :( Some were elaborate.
I asked those guys to stand there for me for perspective of those huge urns :)
Some were a good place for photos
The Residence was the most interesting and colorful one.
I was taking a photo of these RED doors !
We were able to go inside the Residence and even go upstairs, where you could view 'All That is Mine'
Time for a water break
It was an exhausting day, but always fun with this group !
Then back to the Hotel, and re-pack, again, and be ready to leave early the next morning for a couple days in DaNang.
29 Feb - Travel to DaNang & Marble Mountain
Back to DaNang, this time to spend a few days.
All six of us again, this time in a Luxury Limo .. check out the lighted ceiling, we also had WiFi !
We tried to get our Limo driver to take us to Marble Mountain; but we
ended up at Menora Grand Hotel and checked in. We were pretty
frustrated and these statues inside our Hotel Lobby seemed to say:
—I can’t believe this
—Let’s not talk about it
—I need to unwind
We got another driver to take us to Marble Mountain :) However, this
driver had another idea… he took us to a Marble Shop (no doubt gets a
commission on anything we buy). But his profits were small on us. And
finally we got to Marble Mountain. This is big mountain with lots of
climbing and Temples. Our first challenge was another climb through
the inside of a mountain. At least it was cool in there!
Video to show how we are actually ‘climbing’ very narrow and winding steps, and clinging to the walls for support.
This guy at the top made us laugh.
From the top. DaNang far in the distance
On
the way down, they actually had large rings embedded in the marble so
people would have something to hold on to .. so…, we weren’t the only
ones !
Sylvia and I with our knees, passed on any of the other climbs to more Temples. How many Temples does one person need to see ?
A group photo again ... a very colorful one :)
The next couple of days were not supposed to be good weather days, again. So after we got back to our Hotel some of the group wanted to experience our roof-top pool … i wanted the beach! I made sure to take photos of all the street corners i turned at, and the entrance from the beach as i went along, so i could find my way back… i am trainable !
It is a great beach.
As I said before, it goes on forever, as far as you can see.
The waves were pretty big and there were only certain areas where swimming was allowed. I felt sorry for the LifeGuards, who had to try to keep the ‘kids’ safe !
I walked the beach for awhile and went back to the pool to get the group to go for Happy Hour. No one at the Pool, but I got a sunset photo.
Found them back at the beach, where i joined them for Happy Hour with these fun drinks. They put a glass under the glass with a piece of dry ice in it. When they serve it, they pour water on the dry ice. Very cool !
A great first night in DaNang
And we're ready for the next adventures that await us in DaNang
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