See the last giant softshell turtle from the lake, preserved beside it
One of the rarest animals on earth
A red wooden bridge crosses to a small island temple in the middle of the city's central lake. Inside, in a glass case, is a two-metre, 170 kg softshell turtle, with the scars on its shell still visible.
Why it's unique
Cu Rua, one of the last known Swinhoe's softshell turtles, died in the lake in January 2016. Rather than being buried, the body was plastinated by a Vietnamese and German team and put on display in the temple on an island in the same lake, where it has been since March 2019.
The species is among the rarest vertebrates alive, with a handful of known individuals left. This is the specific animal from this specific lake, preserved fifty metres from where it lived, in a temple whose founding legend is about a turtle. There is no equivalent anywhere.
Before you go
There are two turtles in the temple and visitors routinely photograph the wrong one. The older taxidermy specimen from 1967 is in the front hall; Cu Rua is the newer, much larger case further in, and the plastination preserved the colour and the shell damage well enough that the difference is obvious once you know to look.
Come at opening or in the last hour. The Huc bridge is the single most photographed object in the city and by mid-morning you are queuing on it rather than crossing it.