Hello and welcome to Hue on the central coast of Vietnam.

So, after departing Hanoi and heading to the airport for the short flight to Hue (we decided to fly as the price was only fractionally more than the train and 4 hours less in duration) we found ourselves climbing onboard what appeared at first glance to be a private jet sent purely for the two of us.

To paint the picture it was small to say the least. There was no mobile staircase driven up to the side carriage as you would generally expect on an average sized plane, there was no need. We walked up the hand full of stairs of the actual door. It had actual propellers, like you used to see on the old style planes. The kind I thought only existed in museums or on planes made of wood. We ended up sat next to one of them. Neither of us actually looked out of the small window in fear of witnessing the frail looking engines fail as we stuttered skywards.

As it turned out though our fears were misguided, it was perfectly fine and we were landing no sooner than we had taken off.

Once off the plane and after gathering our bags (which were pretty much first through - for once) we realised that we hadn't actually arranged any kind of transport to the town centre or indeed, to our hotel. As we emerged though from the small, stale arrivals hall we spotted a blue mirage up ahead of what appeared to be a transport desk. The desk of which advertised both buses and taxis.

Unsure as to where the bus stopped in relation to our hotel we were stood staring at the stall, contemplating the taxi option when, from nowhere appeared a rather odd looking chap, looking disturbingly similar to Jims dad from American pie (with the eyebrows and everything). Anyway, Jims dad then proceeded to proposition us on sharing a taxi to town and splitting the cost.

Great idea. We checked his hotel address on the piece of scrap paper he was clutching and, as luck would have it, it was on the same street as ours. Things were looking good.

I gestured to Jims dad that, yes, we would happily share the taxi with them (his English wasn't the best, just so you know) and then stood and watched as the strange idiotic fool then wandered around the hall aimlessly, with the look of a man who had just shrunk his favourite Christmas jumper, before propositioning another couple on sharing a taxi with them. The very same taxi he had just agreed to share with us.

What a strange little man. I'm sure this guy has help putting his socks on correctly in the mornings.

As it turned out though, the buses stopped at each hotel as requested by the passengers, and cost less than half of the taxi fare (even if you shared with strange men who look like Jims dad). That was that anyway as we boarded the bus and headed off towards Hue town centre and the Hong Thien Hotel. The late afternoon in the town was still humid but somewhat overcast, the air almost thick with expectancy, the kind of which you get just before a storm. The hotel was situated on a quiet corner of town, nestled between a number of other small guesthouses and hotels, cafes and restaurants. It was a nice little area. You could actually step onto the road without wondering if it was to be the last step you ever took. It was nice. We liked it.

By the time we had arrived at the hotel it was around 7:30pm and food was on our minds. Do you think its possible that you could actually think about food too much? I'm sure if we sat down one day and worked through the calculations, about 95% (give or take the other 5) of our days are spent either eating, thinking about eating or discussing what we have either just eaten or will be eating at some point in the (hopefully not too distant) future. As an example, we recently spent some time deliberating over our top five list of nations in terms of signature food dishes. It was a lengthy and passionate debate and one that we both took very seriously. For the record here was our final standings:

Me:
1) Indian (Lamb Rogan Josh)
2) Mexican (Chilli Con Carne)
3) Italian (Lasagne)
4) English (Proper chippy chips with cheese and gravy)
5) Greek (Anything made by Aimee's Yaya (nan))

Aimee:
Well, Aimee was unable to comprise an actual list as she "loves all food equally".

Anyway after dumping the bags we headed out and before we knew it, found ourselves taking a seat in 'The Hot Tuna' restaurant, a stones throw from the hotel.
As we sat studying the menu, a quiet 'Hello' - with a slight twang of Dutch to it - floated in from the early evening street. It was Jennifer (pronounced 'Yennifer'), the Dutch girl of whom we had shared the sleeper train to Sapa. Turned out that food was on her mind too so we invited her to join us before all in turn (without even a hint of guilt) ordering extremely non-Vietnamese dishes with no rice or noodles to be seen, whilst discussing what each of us had been up to since the last time we saw each other. It was a nice evening, capped with the realisation that beer was even cheaper here than up north. 10,000VND for a half litre bottle. That's about 33p. For half a litre. 33 English pence.

After bidding goodnight to 'Yennifer' we promptly made our way to our room and spent the rest of the evening watching the Disney classic - Toy Story. What a film by the way. Never gets old.

The following morning we were up bright and early, sat outside our hotel devouring a rubbery microwaved croissant from 'The Hot Tuna', with the kind of vim and vigour you would expect of someone who hadn't eaten for days, when our tour bus for the day pulled up in front of us a little after 8am. The bus was bright pink. Our guide for the day, Hao, wore a shirt a size or two too big for him that was a slightly off white colour. The kind of colour that you couldn't quite work out if it was by design or through build up of grime. I guessed at the latter. He also spoke just loud enough so you knew he was actually speaking, but not quite loud enough to hear what he was saying.

Jims dad was also on the tour.

The first stop was the former imperial city and once grand Citadel. To highlight just here that we were made aware as we exited the bus, that the entrance fee to the Citadel was not included in the tour price and we would therefore have to pay before we could get in. As instructions go that sounds simple enough, right?

Jims dad was the only one who attempted to walk through the entrance gates without paying.

Even as they summoned him back, whilst gesturing towards the sign indicating the ticket price, he looked dazed and confused. I can honestly say the fact that this strange little man has managed to somehow negotiate himself from whichever unfortunate land he calls home to South East Asia amazes me.

The construction of the Citadel began in 1804 and the time that has elapsed since has not rested kindly, although much of this process was aided by some heavy bombing at the hands of the Americans. The Citadel is vast and its easy to imagine what a grand enclosure it once was although the Citadel we see today is a crumbling ruin of its former self, much of which is lined with UNESCO funded scaffolding as labourers toil, performing much needed repairs and reconstruction - with an estimated 30-40 years to completion. Having said that, the overall beauty of the place is undeniable and the dilapidated appearance almost adds to the elegance and charm.

Unfortunately however, it was during our (regrettably brief) visit here that the heavens first opened, giving us a glimpse into what the next week or so had in store for us. Downpour is an understatement. It was most definitely "raining needles", as a certain French-Canadian couple we met in New Zealand would have described it. Thankfully Aimee had brought along her umbrella but that still wasn't enough as we scurried along, our shoes squelching in the continually rising puddles, back out of the huge Citadel walls towards our pink carriage.

With the arrival of rain however, came the smell of opportunity, and with full lungs the entrepreneurial spirit of the Vietnamese again shone through as last years stash of poncho's were hurriedly located, dusted down and offered out left and right at extravagantly inflated prices. What would have cost maybe 20,000 an hour earlier was now being offered up for 80,000. You just cant help but admire it. We eventually struck a deal of 50,000 for two and immediately slipped into our new rain proof condoms.

Once back on the bus we continued around 7km south of central Hue to the banks of the Song Huong, site of the royal tombs. There are a number of tombs of which you can visit, but with a further cost of 110,000VND per tomb and a strict budget to abide by, we opted to pick two. The tombs of Minh Mang and Tu Duc.

Our first stop was the tomb of Emperor Minh Mang. The tomb complex is a vast area comprising of a man made lake, lush gardens and a number of extravagantly designed and colourful buildings. There are huge tombstones set towards the centre of both tombs we visited, inscribed from top to bottom in Chinese and offering a personally written biography of the Emperors life. The thought behind these, we were informed, was that due to the emperors fear that any biography written following their death may not be in the most positive tone, they took it upon themselves to write their own to ensure that this was the version of events forever immortalised in stone.

After the emperors death his coffin was carried into the tomb by slaves, via an underground tunnel that was subsequently sealed permanently. The slaves charged with the honour of carrying the coffin were in turn killed to prevent the exact location of the emperor ever being known and therefore thwarting the attention of potential grave robbers. All that is known for sure is that the final resting place of the emperor is set somewhere within the hill at the back of the tomb complex.

The tomb of Tu Duc is equally as impressive, built between 1864 and 1867 it was designed to reflect the emperors "poetic spirit". The complex itself also features a man made lake at the centre surrounded by pine tree gardens. As with Minh Mang, the actual resting place of Tu Duc is unknown besides being within the confines of the site.

The incessant rain continued as we explored the tombs. Id like to say that it only added to the atmosphere and character of the sites but quite honestly, it didn't. It made us wet. That's all. Nothing else.

Half way around the tomb site we were instructed by a rather flustered Hoa that we had to leave. Now. The tour was sold to us with the promise of a "sunset cruise" along the river back to the point where our trip began, but due to the torrential rain the river level was rising and in turn the chances of our vessel making it under the low hanging bridges decreasing. We all rushed back to the pink bus. Jims dad took his time.

The sunset cruise was, to put it politely, different. The river was swollen, dangerous
looking and incredibly brown. The kind of water that you worry about contracting
cholera from by simply looking at it. The rain continued unabated. The boat was a
giant square largely empty barge, with plastic patio chairs lined up along the sides
of the dangerously slippery lino covered floor, offering a view of the, erm, rain
clouds. We even had an open top. And it was indeed open. The rain poured in. Jims
dad was still present. He was also joined by Goldmember from Austin Powers. If
your not sure who I'm referring to, Google search "goldmember". Without a word of a
lie he was the spitting image. Together the two of them would have made a great
duo.

The rain continued through the night. The window of our room sounded like it may give way at any moment. We found out the next morning that the storm was in fact the tail end of Typhoon Mirinae, which had hit a little further down the coast. We had slept through it.

The coming of dawn did not signal the end of the rain. It continued beating down without looking likely to subside. We made a joint decision to spend the day in the room watching Bear Grylls. Between episodes we did manage to do something useful though as we booked ourselves onto the bus to Hoi An, a small town south west of Hue which is famous for its countless tailors and custom made clothing.

Our departure was set for the following morning…