Da Nang and Hue

We hired a car for the day yesterday to have a quick look at Da Nang and Hue since we were so close to them in Hoi An.  Also you fly into and leave from Da Nang airport for Hoi An so we had to head back that way anyway.  The trip from the airport costs around $25 so having a private car for the day at $80 including being dropped at the airport seemed like a good deal.
We drove to Marble Mountain in Da Nang first and climbed a million stairs...that what my legs thought anyway. Below the start of the stairs....

                                                            A temple at the Pagoda.

 The pagoda, some of the ones we see are quite new as of the course the country has been rebuilt in many areas.  Unsure how old this one was but it was impressive.

  From the Marble mountains you can see the coastline of Da Nang and onwards, it's wasn't a clear day so I'm sure it would usually be beautiful.  The famous China Beach where American soldiers spent R&R time during the war is the beach at Da Nang as well.

We went into Huyen Khong Cave which was like going down into an Egyptian cave, it was quite big and impressive.   The steps we climbed down into the cave with the guard statues being 2 administrative mandarins and 2 military ones, apparently.

                                                         Walking through the cave area.

We the travelled through Hai Van Pass which crosses over the mountain range to Hue.  This was a very important lookout that was used by originally French  then Vietnamese and American forces during the war time.

                                The bunkers have a views down the coast and along the roads.

Looking up at the old French fort we could see bullet holes from past skirmishes.

We then passed by Lang Co Beach, above, which is apparently a nice beachy area to stay if the weather is nice.

THEN TO HUE

 One of the gates of the Citadel which housed the emperor of Vietnam and his family and extras for hundreds of years.  It was very impressive how big it was, felt like I was in the forbidden city in China.

           Looking out from the main entrance area, you could see it all going on for ever in the distance.

                                                      One of the houses within the citadel.

                                                  A large gathering hall for men only?

Just one of the many gates.

The huge moat around the citadel.

 This building with the flag on it was just huge!  The flag looked like the size of the one on Parliament house in Canberra.

Another shot of the moat around the outside of the citadel, very nice to look at and well worth the day in the car to ensure we saw Hue.