The drive from Hoi An to Hue went through the incredibly picturesque Hai Van Pass - every turn looked like a postcard picture scene with the green mountains dropping down to the white beaches and crystal blue sea. We stopped for lunch overlooking the deserted Lang Co beach - so beautiful.

Hue is a nice town on the banks of the Perfume River (Song Huong) - the town offers pretty views across the river with mountains in the backdrop and enough restaurants, bars and shops to keep us well-entertained for a few days.

On the first night we went for a 'royal banquet' in which we dressed up in traditional costumes in the style that the Emperor, his wife, concubines and servants would have worn. There were about ten courses and each was elaborately presented, for example decorated with birds carved from vegetables. We were entertained throughout the meal with traditional music, it was good fun.

I spent a day touring the surrounding countryside on the back of a motorbike - I've never been on a motorbike before so it was quite exciting The town was very busy and a bit scary but the countryside was fine. On the back, I could relax and take in the surroundings so it was a great way to see a lot in a short space of time.

First stop was the Thanh Toan Bridge - a traditional style tiled roof bridge. Strangely there were a lot of people napping in the sides of the bridge, including an old man with a prosthetic leg who had taken his leg off and left it on the ground next to him while he slept - it looked very odd! We checked out the nearby market and went to the local fortune teller who told me, among other things, that I'm going to marry a handsome older man from another country, probably Chinese, and quickly thereafter have five children! Hilarious. Stephanie wasn't so pleased with her prediction - that she'd marry twice and her first husband would be an alcoholic!

There were lots of pretty little traditional-style temples along the way, we stopped at one of the bigger ones for a look around. Then the bikes climbed to the summit of 'bunker hill', so-called after the Americans built army bunkers there during the war - it gave them a perfect vantage point over the surrounding mountains and the Perfume River and, now that the bombs have been cleared and trees planted, it's a beautiful spot to take in the panorama.

We stopped at one of the little shops that make incense, recognisable by the stacks of coloured sticks lined up in front of the store. We watched the incense-makers in action and I had a go at it but I was useless!

We visited the Tu Duc Tomb, last resting place of one of the Emperors. The complex comprises 50 buildings and many ponds packed with water lillies. It was incredibly hot so we spent more time sitting in the shade than actually exploring the buildings!

We had a vegetarian lunch at a Buddhist monastery which was surprisingly tasty and, although there were only five of us, there was enough food for fifteen - we ate as much as we could and a nun kept coming round and encouraging us to eat more. We were supposed to remain silent while there so had to whisper very quietly. The same nun rolled out mats on the floor and instructed us to take a post-lunch nap - great!

We finished up at the impressive Thien Mu Pagoda, the most modern temple that I've been to. It is set in pretty grounds with a view down on the Perfume River and the place is pristinely kept. It had the car that was driven by a monk to Saigon in 1963 before he set himself on fire in the street in protest at the supression of religious rights.

I enjoyed my final morning in Hue, wandering around the Forbidden Purple City and Imperial Enclosure within the Citadel (the walled old town). The Forbidden City is like a smaller version of the one in Beijing - similar architecture and the same concept insofar as it was the quarters of the emperors, their wives, concubines and eunuch servants (though I couldn't see what was 'purple' about it). Unfortunately much of the buildings were destroyed during the war and by natural disasters - reconstruction work seemed to be progressing slowly. The areas that have survived/been rebuilt are beautiful.