While in Hué, I opted to take a day out of the city and on multiple long bus rides to various demilitarized zones throughout Vietnam. Hué and the neighboring villages were some of the most heavily bombed areas during the Vietnam War because of the proximity of the North/South border. Our tour guide, Phu, was incredibly knowledgeable on the subject matter and put the War into an honest and enlightening perspective:

“When I drive along Highway 9, I don’t like to see the things related to the war in the past. I like to see the future and so do the people who live along Highway 9. They’re all young and look toward our bright tomorrows.”

I took this photo of an American sandbag bunker at one of the DMZs. I found the bright white and yellow of the daisy contrasted against the aged, war-ridden bunker as an anamoly  — happiness and peace can exist after war, but the legacy of it will always remain.

I’ve decided to extend my donations from this post for Haiti and Chile. For every comment on the post, I will donate an additional $1 to the Red Cross to help earthquake efforts in both Haiti and Chile through April 20.