The Ghostly Beauty Of The Abandoned Park In Hue

Thuy Tien Water Park in Hue has been abandoned, but still attracts adventurous travelers, including foreigners to explore.

Expectations forgotten

Located in Thuy Bang Commune, Huong Thuy Town, about 10 km to the southwest of Hue City, Thuy Tien Lake lies dormant among pine hill with abandoned works at a cost of over 70 billion.

Located on the hill of Thien An, Thuy Tien Lake (Thuy Bang Commune, Huong Thuy Town) had long become an ideal destination for tourists and visitors to Hue. To promote tourism as well as meet the needs of tourists and create jobs for local people, Thua Thien Hue People’s Committee decided to invest in building the entertainment area Thuy Tien Lake that had an area of 49.9 Ha with many works such as Aquarium, playroom, water park, water music stage, restaurant, and so on.

Thuy Tien Lake eco-tourist site had been expected to be an attractive tourist resort for domestic and foreign tourists. But now, it has become a waste. Thuy Tien Lake Park was officially opened when it was not completed in 2004 but after a period of operation, the park was degraded and abandoned.

Ghostly beauty on the foreign press

Thuy Tien Water Park, located in Thua Thien Hue Province, does not appear in the map of Vietnam. Even local people shook their heads when asked about the existence of this site. The reason is that the amusement park has been abandoned for a long time, inside is only a pile of ruins with quiet space, no one visits.

However, by early 2016, Thuy Tien Water Park suddenly became the best destination in Vietnam for foreigners who like adventure after a surprise appearance on The Huffington Post – the famous newspaper of the United States. The article is titled “The wasteland water park is not for shy hearts” with a series of photos depicting horror inside the desolate, degraded and abandoned designs, aroused the curiosity of the online community, which turned this forgotten amusement park into a fascinating discovery destination for backpacking travelers.

Recently, Thuy Tien water park continues to “give a shock” when appearing on the British newspaper Dailymail. Under the lens of photographer Nathan Peauril, the ruins of Thuy Tien Water Park was shown up with wild beauty, mystery, and obsession.

Nathan Peauril remarks the abandoned park as a “nightmare” because of its ruins. The amount of rubbish has increased due to the increase in a number of visitors of backpacking tours in Vietnam, moss cover making the scene more deserted, older and scarier. The slides covered with fallen foliage, hidden under trees, made Nathan Peauril feel the nature here had gradually encroached upon this building.

Scary feeling

Despite its ideal location close to Thien An hill – a popular tourist destination with beautiful natural scenery and pagodas that are very attractive to tourists, the water park of Thuy Tien was deserted mysteriously.

The amusement park has now ceased to serve. In the entrance to the resort, the grass grows luxuriantly. The area around Thuy Tien Lake has dozens of gorgeous sculptures. However, because there are no preservers, many artworks have been deformed and statues are also drawn with graffiti. Even the gate in front of the entrance to the resort was rusted and damaged.

Now, Thuy Tien Lake has been “opened” free for the adventurous guests to explore. Most tourists of Hue City Tour find this abandoned water park to experience just adventurous and scary feeling as in horror movies, not to admire a forgotten architectural work.