Hue - Wednesday 28th

As promised, our 'English speaking' driver to take us to Hue could speak English or, to be more precise, about two words of English. Maybe it was our fault for assuming that he might say a few more words than that, being our tour guide. (But, in any case, far better than our Vietnamese!). He did take us to MarbleMountains and then using universal communication, pointed a finger towards the lady with the ticket, while he went off for a snooze.It was quite a trek up some very steep steps that were cut into the rock and we could see the patches of marble running through them.We were dripping in sweat by the time we reached the top, as yet again it's another hot and humid day, but the views made it worthwhile. There were people probably twice our age (so about 70!) who had made it up there, so Suz felt embarrassed that she was puffing and panting.We visited various pagodas and caves and met a friendly Vietnamese family who provided us with fruit and crackers.There was a street full of shops selling the same marble statues, mainly dragons, lions and Buddha's (ironically, the sculptors now use marble shipped in from China, as the Marble Mountains were fast running out of marble).Still, they are trying their luck on us buying a six-foot statue.We continued our 3-hour journey to Hue, so we tried to relax while the driver overtook at every opportunity and constantly beep-beeped his way along the busy roads.The tree covered mountains were beautiful and on occasion we could make out the golden sandy bays below.We tried to suggest to our driver that we stop off at another place of interest. However, the fact that he had his head turned at 90-degrees to understand us, whilst not watching the motorbike in front of him, with a 2-metre pane of glass sitting on the rider's lap, made us quickly forget the idea.We are still charmed by the villages and watching people go about their everyday life.We've not seen a supermarket yet, but there are open markets selling fresh produce in each village. People appear to be happy with their lot and most will flash back a smile (many not too many teeth) if you smile at them.In Hue, we got a good deal on a new hotel and booked into our suite.The staff are so friendly and they were tripping over themselves to help, however they can. (Including a couple of 'engineers', working all afternoon to fix the internet - that, yet again, isn't working!).Went out to look for somewhere to have lunch and walked down a couple of alley ways. There weren't many tourists in this part of town and found ourselves feeling like the two American hikers in American Werewolf, as people stared at us as if they had never seem westerners before.We then found out that the cafes along this street were serving drinks and no food - at lunch time we hasten to add!A guy called Thanh pulled up on his 'Harley' (although it was clearly an original Honda) and tried to talk us into taking one of his trips. We said we would think about it, but did let him pursuade us to visit a restaurant he recommended, probably belonging to some relative or other.Later in the afternoon back in the hotel, Suz was beaten up by the 6-year old midget masseuse, who jumped around and walked on her back, dug her knees in and pummelled like a lunatic, before running the bubble bath! It was all quite strange and Suz was not convinced that it was actually pleasurable.Went to a traditional Vietnamese restaurant in the evening and enjoyed some very spicy food.

Thursday 29th

We walked to the Citadel which is an old walled city within Hue, which was the 19th and 20th Century residence of the Emperor, when Hue was the capital (before Uncle Ho turned-up and took control).As usual, we were pounced on to see if we wanted a cyclo ride and as the driver was so sweet, we agreed his very good going rate of £2 for an hour.He took us to a few places for a photo opportunity and rode us around the outskirts of the walled city.Much to his delight, and the bemusement of other tourists, Stephen swapped seats with him and took him for a spin. The Imperial enclosure was undergoing some serious renovations and there was scaffolding and work men everywhere.The whole place had been seriously bombed by the French and then later the Americans finished off what was left, so there is actually very little left of the original Forbidden Purple City.We visited the General Museum Complex and read the harrowing stories of those who suffered at the hands of the enemy (The US and 'puppet-soldiers' of the South) during the war.Equally harrowing is the line of US army tanks sitting there looking like huge rusting killing machines in front of the museum.In the evening we went to a local restaurant and during dinner, brought some silk paintings off of a vendor.No sooner had he gone, when another one arrived at our table with more vibrant paintings. As they were so cheap and relatively easy to carry, we brought some more of them, but in the meantime Stephen had to go off to find an ATM.As usual, most of them were not working and a friendly bloke on a cyclo offered to take Stephen around until he found one.He also offered to wait outside the restaurant until we finished so he could take us to a good bar.Then, there were two of them, so we had a cyclo each and they took us to the 'Why Not' bar, which was on the corner of the next street and something we easily could have walked in about 25 seconds.Being the friendly people we are, we bought them a couple of beers while they waited for us.By the time they got us back to the hotel, which was also in quite close proximity they wanted 800,000 dong each - that is the staggering equivalent of £42 each.Remember the guy who took us both for £2 for an hour?After some animated discussions we gave them a couple of hundred between them and told them to get on with it, the little rip-off merchants...…. and to think we bought them a beer - suckers!

Friday 30th

Duvet day!We watched a few DVD's, one of which was about the Vietnamese war, which was so disturbing it stayed with us for the rest of the day. Found a great bar in the evening called the DMZ (abbreviation for the De-Militarised Zone). From 1954 to 1975 the BenHaiRiver, which sits half way between the north and south of the country, served as the demarcation line between Republic of Vietnam in the south and Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north. It was 5km wide and actually ended up as one of the most militarised zones in the world as the conflict escalated.Anyway enough of the history lesson, the bar had great music and graffiti was covering every inch of space on the ceiling, floor, tables and chairs - excellent!