Hue:

When we eventually arrived in Hue we were absolutely knackered. We'd spent the last 3 nights, sleeping on a train, a boat and then a bus! The bus journey wasn't as bad as we were expecting. Neither of us slept really. But we were chatting to 2 girls on the bus and found out that one of them was from Bingley and her brother went to school with Hilary! What a small world. We were just saying before we got on the bus that we've not met any northerners then we get one from Bingley. We talked about porky's obviously! There were also 2 older guys from Sheffield on the bus, they both looked like they'd just stepped off the set of Bullseye.

The beds on the night bus are more like dentist chair bunk beds if that makes sense. Hilary was ok sleeping in them, but I couldn't really fit. Your legs go into a little box and my feet were too big I couldn't fit them in, so I got zero sleep. Sleeping next to the toilet didn't help either, especially when someone got food poisoning about 30 mins into the journey. It stank!

Hue is near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which is the old border between the North and South of Vietnam. So there's a lot about the Vietnam War here. Hue also was the capitol of Vietnam from 1802-1945.

Once we found our hotel in Hue, we pretty much went straight to bed as we were both knackered from all the travelling we'd been doing. Our first impression of Hue was pretty good. It was nicely chilled with lots of cool little bars and restaurants. We even had takeaway pizza's and beers in our room on our first night!

The next day we walked around the centre of Hue which is basically a huge Citadel. Some of it was interesting, but they've restored most of it, so it looks pretty new. Didn't really feel like a citadel. We did get to see some artillery and planes that was used in the war from both sides.

We booked a day tour to go see the DMZ area. We had a guide who could speak very good English and learned quite a lot about the war and Vietnam. We took in a lot of sights. We stopped at one which is massive rock named, The Rockpile which was a strategic view point for the Americans and could only be accessed by helicopter. 300 soldiers were stationed there. Our guide informed us that this stopped the Vietnamese from moving around as you could see everything from there...except when it rained or was foggy, then you couldn't see a thing! Then next stop was a bridge which is over one of the old Ho Chi Minh trails used by the Vietnamese. It used to be a bamboo bridge which the VC lowered into the river when not in use so that the Americans couldn't find it. There's a huge concrete bridge in its place now donated by Fidel Castro when he came to see and congratulate Vietnam after the war against the Americans.

Back on the bus, which was a little sweat box as the driver had to turn off the A/C whenever he went up the slightest of hills to give the bus more power. We went to the former US military base Khe Sanh. This is the site of one of the more famous battles during the war. (I'd not heard of it before though). There are old planes, tanks bunkers and artillery shells left by the American's and the Vietnamese there. Plus a small museum showing pictures of the battle and a map of the Ho Chi Min trails, which go in and out of Laos and Cambodia. You can certainly see why it was so effective and helped them win the war. Some of the information in the museum is slightly propaganda, but its still quite upsetting seeing the pictures, the base was rather eerie.

After lunch, we headed up to the Vinh Moc Tunnels. This was definitely the highlight of the tour. It didn't disappoint either. It was very impressive as they go on for miles. The village lived in these tunnels during the war to protect themselves from American bombings. We were shocked to learn that children were born in the tunnels, they went to school there, went to see performances and got married there. It was almost normal life down in the tunnels. They were tiny though and showed what resolve and determination the Vietnamese people are, and probably shows why they won the war. We went down one set of tunnels which were lined with lights which were fine. But when we came out our guide asked if anyone didn't want to go down the next set. We didn't hear the bit about these ones not having any lights in them at all! When we realised it was too late. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Hilary kept asking me if I knew where we were going as the tunnels have lots of different turn offs, I was just following the guy in front, till I realised he was lost! Talk about following the blind. I tried to remember our guides advise if we got lost in the tunnels...cry or die. We decided to do neither..although I think Hilary wanted to cry, especially when I started to use the flash on the camera as a light and it was making it feel like a horror film every time it flashed!

We eventually found a way out. We came out with a few others from a totally different place the rest of the tour group did and we were all covered in mud from walking and banging into walls!

Back on the bus, we headed back to Hue which was a very long journey. Our guide told us that he learned to swim in a bomb crater and where the B52's had bombed, are all used for fish farms or learning to swim. When he was a kid, they used to go around and dig up unexploded bombs, take out the explosives and put them in coke bottles or cans and use them for dynamite fishing! The ones they couldn't take the explosives out of, they dug a big hole, put all the bombs in, lit a fire and then ran!

We felt we learned a great deal about the war and it was good to have a local guide as well...especially one who could speak English!

The next day we had another bus to catch, but this one luckily wasn't an overnight one. Our next destination, Hoi An.

Things we have learnt:

• The Vietnamese have been at war a long time. 1000 years with China, 200 with Mongolia, France 150 years, Japanese during World War 2, then America....they beat them all.

• According to our guide, there's a tunnel all the way to the white house...just in case!

• It used to be the capitol of Vietnam

• One of the reasons they won the war, is everyone, men, women and children were all soldiers

• Almost 2 million North Vietnamese died in the war, 100,000 South Vietnamese and 60,000 Americans.

• A lot of South Vietnamese went to the north to fight against the Americans.

• Hue has one of the best curry houses we have ever been to...if not THE best.