March 20th (Friday) - Day 20 - Hue
The train got in at 8am and we got a bus to the hotel. Most of the group had opted to do the motor cycle tour. We set off for the old palace. This is a 10km wall around the old city. We set off on our bikes and I was hanging on for dear life to start off with but in a few minutes I was fine without a care in the world. Our guide (and my driver) was a guy called Tam. He was a manic on and off the roads! He was doing weird things and showing off all day. He showed us around the palace and the parts the tourists normally miss. At one point we were walking down a lane and the noise from the insects in the trees was deafening. Afterwards we set off for the country side. This is the first time I have seen the countryside upclose since arriving in Asia. We went around some really remote roads and arrived in a tiny little village. There was an exibition setup to show people how the locals work the land. Walking in we met this 77 year old lady with a really bad hunch and she could bearly walk. Next thing we knew she was grinding rice and pedaling a water bike with ease. Next we went to see a lady who makes local hats. She made one in front of us in minutes. What made it even more inpressive was that she only had one hand. Next we went to eat lunch made by Monks. The food tasted like meat, looked like meat but it was all vegetarian. Next we went to a royal burial ground, then an old look out point over the river complete with US pill boxes from the war. Then to a shop that made insence. Sarah had a go at making more and it looked like more of a sausage. Next we saw a stadium used to fight elephants and tigaers. We jumped on a boat which took us to a temple and up the river before returning us to our hotel. We set out for dinner and ended up in a bar called DMZ and played pool with some locals.