Abandoned water park, Huế

Back in 2022, when we visited this abandoned waterpark, tourist access was technically not permitted, so we have no idea how much tighter the rules and regulations are now. However, if you can explore here, it's so worth doing as this place is truly fascinating!

Quick story: Back in 2022, the only thing guarding the waterpark was a man dressed up in a fake security costume (it's the same colour and style as the local police uniforms, but don't be fooled!). He often sits halfway down the path and stops people from entering or leaving the park with the help of an obnoxiously loud whistle. Before visiting, we met many fellow travellers who said they bypassed this man by offering him a packet of cigarettes or a small fee. For us we entered through the back entrance, and when we were stopped by the 'guard', we luckily met some other fellow tourists heading in the opposite direction. He tried to prevent us from entering the waterpark while telling the other tourists that they couldn't leave the waterpark. With all of us protesting the logic of his rules, he eventually gave up and let us all go where we wanted to. On the way back out, he was sleeping in his hammock, and we crept past, stealth mode!

So basically my advice would be that if you're ballsy enough, ignore the whistles and the protests and just walk straight past the 'guard'. He doesn't have any legal authority, but if you want to play it safe, bring some small tokens to barter with. This may be good advice, may be bad advice, i'm just sharing our experience so do with it as you will :)

The waterpark itself, though is super cool and I'm so glad we visited! If you climb up into the jaws of the dragon at the top of the park, have a look for the names Elise and Sas - hopefully they're still etched into the wall alongside 1 million other names, places and swearwords.