Vietnam - the pearl of Asia

Vietnam is one of the exotic and colorful countries in the world. Vietnam is located in Southeast Asia and is bordered by China, Cambodia and Laos. Vietnam is washed by the South China sea to the East.

I was in VIETNAM approximately 2 years ago. It was a fun and educational trip. Life and traditions of Vietnam are too interesting. We ended up in Vietnam during the celebration of the Vietnamese New Year, which is called "Tet". It symbolizes the beginning of spring, so everything is decorated with flowers. "Tet" is celebrated from the end of January till at the beginning of February.

I want to share a story about one day of this trip. We decided to visit the city of Hue. The journey was long, we traveled from Nha Trang to Hue by train. We spend about 10 hours travelling by train, which was nice but daunting. I really hate travelling by train.

Hue is a city in the central Vietham, is consedered the cultural capital of Vietnam. The amazing and exotic culture of Vietnam keeps many secrets. We visited many fascinating and ancient places. It is an Imperial city, Thienmu pagoda and Khai Dinh tomb.

Imperial city or citadel is a city inside a city. There are the Royal Palace, a library, the Royal Theater, gardens, temples, pagodas, a military muzeum, a museum of imperators. The architecture and gardens were fantastic. We walked for a long time, fed the fish and enjoyed the views.

Thienmu Pagoda is situated on the bank of the Fragrant River. It has 7 levels and is the highest in Vietnam. It was founded in 1601.

The Tomb of Khai Dinh is located in Chau Chu mountain in Hue. It was built from 1920 to 1931 for Khai Dinh, the 12-th Emperor of the Nguyen dynasty. This is a beautiful palace-mausoleum, which was decorated with glass and porcelain mosaics. There is a gilded royal bed, lanterns, engravings and other antique things in the tomb. There are also numerous stone sculptures of warriors. We were caught by the rain, got wet and tired, but were admired this exciting place.

Then we went to Phongh Nha Kebang National Park. This National Park is located over 200 km from Hue. We spent about 3 hours travelling on bus, which was nice but difficult. There are about 300 ancient caves and grottoes in the park. We visited Phong Nha Cave. From that point on, I absolutely loved the caves, its magnificence and mystery. The way to the cave was a surprise for us, we got to the cave by boat. We leaned how stalactites differ from stalagmites, walked a lot and admired the greatness of nature. We were taking a lot of photos throughout the whole trip to the cave.

Our group didn't explore that places a lot because It was tough day. We were exhausting in the end of this day, but very happy!