We arrived in Hue at around lunchtime on 16 October following a 4 hour bus journey from Hoi An. The road to Hue was amazing - a mountain pass rising up into the clouds.For any of you that want to see it - watch the Top Gear Vietnam special, it was the same road which they traveled along!Bus driver was a lunatic as usual overtaking other buses and oil tankers on bends with vertical drops on one side - good fun though!

Stopped at the top of the mountain pass for a break and got to see a Vietcong bunker complex which seemed all the more spooky with the mist and cloud, check out the photos which totally don't do it justice!Threw our bags into the hotel and went straight out for lunch to Banana Mango before a 4 hour motorbike tour around Hue.Jack had arranged for us to do this as we only had one night here and it was the best way to see the place in a short space of time.Tour was amazing showing us the Citadel (forbidden city), a 7 tier pagoda which is the most famous in Vietnam, Hamburger Hill and a surrounding bunker complex from the war, an ancient colluseum where tigers fought elephants for the Royal Families entertainment and the town where they make the inscent sticks - Laura even got a go rolling a few!We finished the tour at a museum showing us how the local people harvest the rice - which for many is their only source of income.Stayed for a sprite and an ice coffee (Vietnam coffee is the best in the world) and met the local fortune teller who was an 85 year old Vietnamese woman who was married to an American Pilot during the American/Vietnam War.She was really nice and spoke amazing English, telling us about her family and how her husband was a bad man with his 7 other wives!!

Started to rain heavily again on the way back to the hotel but it was no problem - the motorbike drivers pulled out ponchos for us which kept us dry all the way back home!Went for pizza that night before heading to a bar/club called brown eyes which has a neon sign outside saying the opening hours were 5pm - till the last person drops!!We were still on antibiotics so were very well behaved but the music in the bar was great so everyone ended up dancing for a couple of hours and even starting a limbo competition in the middle of the dance floor before home time!

Supposed to leave Hue at 3pm the next day for a 14 hour train journey to Hanoi however the weather had other ideas!The track towards Hanoi had flooded meaning we couldn't go over land.Jack arranged an extra night for us in the hotel and flights early the next morning which actually worked out far better for us as the flight was only an hour and the change to our itinerary only set us back $50 each - a bargain considering what the group in front of us had to go through with flooded trains, buses and ruined luggage!

Had a really chilled out second day in Hue.Laura went to see the citadel in a bit more detail while I chilled at the hotel catching up on some "How I met your Mother" episodes!!Couldn't face another temple this morning!Laura made a new friend when she was out - a 10 year old elephant who doing rides round the Citadel so she came back a happy camper, although I think she wanted to bring the elephant back with her!We went for a walk along the river in the afternoon and crossed the rainbow bridge to a nice park on the other side where we met a Gecko chilling in the sun!Returned to the hotel for a kip before heading out for our last night in Hue.

Jack took us to a restaurant owned by a local family who were all deaf apart from one of the daughters.The place didn't look like much from the outside but was recommended in the Lonely Planet Guide so we were hoping the food would be good!The inside of the restaurant was totally covered in graffiti - the owner lets all the customers sign the walls, ceilings and windows before they leave!He even made us a souvenir bottle opener from a piece of wood and a bolt - a cool memory of this awesome place.He also gave us a demonstration on how to open 8 bottles of beer at once which was rather cool before serving us our food which was delicious and very cheap - both of us ate for under $5 so we left a tip to show our appreciation for their hospitality and our free gift!

Home to bed after dinner ahead of a 5:30am alarm tomorrow to catch our flight to Hanoi ahead of our trip to Halong Bay which is what we have both been waiting for since arriving in Vietnam!Fingers crossed the weather is good and we can fully appreciate it.

Craig and Laura =)