Said goodbye to our nice hotel and took a 4 hour bus to the next stop...Hue. Arrived around lunchtime and headed straight out to eat before the afternoons activity - a motorbike tour! Everyone was asking about the sorts of things we would see, I just wanted to know if they provided us with helmets?! Our 12 drivers met us from lunch, gave us a helmet (I was very happy) and off we went after they'd done their little group chant. I was equally scared and excited. Everyone else was filming each other and getting their driver to speed to the front so they could take photos...then there was me holding onto my skinny little driver like my life depended on it. We whizzed through little villages and fields. We crossed a bridge only just wide enough for the bike to fit, we even did a bit of off roading...on a moped...hilarious. We made a few different stops to view different sights which were really fun. We had chance to watch locals making incense and the hats they all wear (I want to say conical? but thats definitely not what they're called). At the monastery I learnt about how you'd go about becoming a monk (It doesn't sound like too much fun to me). We drove through a graveyard, no little plaques like we have at home all the graves are very elaborate. But if I'd known they were gonna take us on the main roads that scare the bejesus out of me...I'd never have gone. Islands and junctions were the best, they seem to have one rule.... never stop! After nearly getting wiped out by another bike I was scared enough but the close call with the bus was pretty special. I was so relieved to get home alive I tipped my driver way more than I meant to, 100,000 dong is around £3.30. But I think I made his day so it was worth it.
In the evening after dinner I went to explore with the Essex girls. Everywhere pretty busy with the festival starting today, we ended up in a floating restaurant on the river and ate icecream. Today was a good day.
On Sunday set the alarm for 7am and went for a run with Catherine along the perfume river, it was so humid it was a real effort. At the end we were just having a little stretch when I caught a local and very old man filming us... Urgh... We've been filmed a lot since we got here. A few of us then visited the imperial city, I can't really remember much other than it was hot! I don't mean hot I mean hotter than hell!! We had to be back to check out and get 2.30pm sleeper train, which was late so we were stuck in a sweat box waiting room where there are signs asking you not to spit on the floor! I felt totally zapped of energy and I never thought I'd be so happy to climb into my grubby bunk bed. I've even managed to have my hot chocolate that I've been carrying round since I got here. So only 14 hours to kill, we have cold pizza, films and lots of stupid conversations to keep us busy.