Our first stop heading south from Hanoi has been Hue (pronounced Hway, not Huw as we Brits tend to mis-pronouce it!). We didn't stay too long as we are aware that we are fast running out of days left in Vietnam, but we had a couple of days and stayed at a fantastic hotel (Orchid Hotel)…with the best breakfast…very high on Gemma's list of requirements for a hotel! So we spent a day doing some exercise…well walking round the city was exercise! Hue isn't the prettiest of cities but we visited the Citadel and Palace on the north side of the river, which are more interesting architecturally and in terms of their history. The place has had a pretty rough ride, with both the French and the US beating the place up during their couple of wars. Still, was nice to wander about, even though it was incredibly humid.

Our second day involved a very early start (6am) as we booked a tour to the demilitarized zone (DMZ). This is basically the 'line' between north and south and the location of a lot of fighting/bombing during the US war. Of course the sights and stories were very one sided, but we are in Vietnam! It was a long day spent on the bus (something Andy really enjoys!) and some of the sites weren't really worth the journey, but the highlight was the Vinh Moc tunnels. Just north of the DMZ itself, the Vinh Moc tunnels are one of 100+ tunnels constructed during the war as bomb shelters. Families or rather villages would live 10-20m underground for periods of time during bomb scares/heavy fighting. As you can imagine the tunnels are tiny…even more so as they are built for Vietnamese people, most of whom are 5' tall. The ones we visited were right on the coast, with some tunnel entrances onto the beach…so at least they could do a spot of sunbathing between bombs!

We were very to lucky to avoid the rain in Hue, it is the rainy season and so rains most days for about 3 months…similar to the UK I guess, but its still warm! They have had a lot of flooding in this region, we've seen so many fields under water, but we've heard people have died from it.

Today we are on (another) bus heading south about 4 hours to Hoi An. I'm quite glad it is a day journey and not an overnighter as we really wouldn't get any sleep…with interesting overtaking manoeuvres and fishtailing down the road trying to avoid the pot holes, I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster!

Hey ho! Andy has said that if we ever go on a bus again, then he will have to grow a beard, get a rucksack and be forever talking about tubing and really good hostels…!!

Regards to all in Blighty.

G xxx