We left Hoi An and travelled up the coast to Hue via the Hoi Van Pass / Sea Cloud
Pass which was interesting considering our drivers capability behind the wheel and the state of the bus! We called off on the way at the MArble mountains where the Vietnamese have carved out a stairway up the side of the mountains and use the natural caves as temples, which look very impressive, especially those with a little opening in the top to let the light pour in.

Once in Hue we took a wee walk around the Citadel just North of the Perfume river, this was the old city, all within massive walls. Within this is the Forbidden Purple City which was based on the Forbidden City in Bejing, and was the home of the imperial palace where the big chief emporer lived!

The highlight of Hue was the motorbike tour we all took together, though it was a bit strange to only have two on a bike and use helments, by this stage we were well used to fitting 3/4 on a bike. They took us through the rice fields and local villages where only motorbikes could go, no room for any 4-wheels here. About an hour after getting shaken about on the bikes they stopped off for a break at an wee village where we walked through an old bridge which is of significance to the people but I cant remember why now! On the bridge, Rene, Scott, Fran and Joanne all got their palms read by an old Vietnamese woman (who was 75, had married a lovely American in '66 but he got blew up by some of her fellow cuntrymen in '67). She had alot of interesting stories to tell of their futures but I'll save that for another time.

To finish our wee tour off we went to some of the main sights around Hue, the Tu Duc tomb, which had one of the old emporers palaces, tombs, temples and his autobiography on a large tablet. I had a go at making insense sticks and then we headed off over another few 'well worn' bridges just about wide enough for the wee bikes. On the way back we stopped of at the Phuoc Duyen Tower, a 7-teired tower with different Buddas on each, all with various symbolic meanings.

Food and nightlife were ok here but looking foward to Ha Long Bay.