Hue, the first capitol city, was an unexpected surprise. A great river front promenade, beautiful parks and the main attraction, the Imperial city. The forbidden imperial city was impressive, even if it was basically all rebuilt because it was destroyed during the war. It's enclosed by a moat and ten ornate gates ( cover pic) and so big you could spend the day wandering the old royal palace and houses, learning about the heritage, walking in the massive courtyards and gardens and picnicking at the pavilions to escape the sun. One thing I did not like was the part where they tell you about the elephant and tiger fighting... Apparently because the elephant is a sign of power to the king, they would pick a tiger to fight the elephant and then remove its teeth and claws to make sure the elephant would win. Everyone would sit around his ring and watch until the tiger died, representing power to he royal family... disgusting. The city itself was the perfect size to explore by bicycle... and I explored. Tu Duc pagoda was beautiful and strangely deserted, unlike the Thien Mu pagoda which had a seven tiered monument, a bell tower and one crowded courtyard. It was so touristic that you had to pay for bicycle parking, at a pagoda..?( not sure Buddha would have wanted it that way). This place was so crowded, when I was walking to the back courtyard, I thought there was a school close by because it sounded like recess was going on. Dozens of teenagers running around, taking pictures with the statues, laying on the grass and taking pictures and videos of the monks doing their prayers..(I don't think Buddha would have wanted that either..). But it was a very nice pagoda... Apart from the historical sights, I met two girls who chased me down to have an English conversation on tape to present to their class. I spent three hours with them talking about cultural and family differences between Asia and Canada, very interesting to say the least. They even got me a coconut at local price and drew me a map of all their favourite places to get cheap local specialty foods. I think I got more out of the session then they did... and they made my last day of hunting for food one to remember... and very delicious. Another local I met on my last night invited me to a local gathering to watch soccer and have a few beers. I could hear the cheering from down the street and when I walked in I bet you could have heard the cockroaches crawling on the floor... in a random garage with twenty or so people...Took a moment for them to forget I was there...had some good mimed out conversations and had a great people watching night out..till dawn.