Sickness hit. That pork meatballs in noodlie-soup turned out to be not so hot. Only few hours back at the hotel after the puppet show things started a gurgling. Nevertheless I headed out for dinner! Ate at a great local place where they were literally queuing across the road. The meat was cooked in mins in the boiling water in your bowl.... I didn't eat much but hadn't twigged this was because very soon my world would turn upside down!

All aboard the night train! Our snug cabin for 4 was cardinally compact, offering complimentary water and duvets which must have been there for a few years.... thank god for the silk liner. After a rough night of various bumps shakes and jolts I braved the train toilet which I had rumors of passed around the cabins,... what can I say, it was better than some of the glasto loos late at night!

The reality of my illness really hit as my roomie calmy showered in our new pristine hotel.... She was out just in the nick of time!

Over lunch of bread and butter we soon found out many others in the group weren't feeling too perky... however we all managed a good 2.5 hour trapes around the Imperial City! Our guide Bon is so very knowledgeable the information was all a little draining in the heat of the day! a very beautiful place with extensive grounds and buildings.

As soon as home I hit the bed at about 3pm and didn't emerge until the next morning.... hence some of the blog silence!

Tuesday 14th July

Illness or not there was no way I was missing out on my first ever ride on a motorbike! Filled with drugs I held on tightly while my driver Ngoc shot through the busy streets of Hue! My initial shreeks soon turned into giggles and interest.

Vietnam's countryside is truly beautiful. We saw the simply elegant boats all down the sides of the paths we flew down, children fishing in the rivers and others hard at work. We soon pulled into a local market that was truly Vietnamese. Fresh fish squirming at your feet with chickens darting in-between the stalls!The food is so fresh here you know the food should be amazing quality.

A village lady gave us a demonstration of how the locals harvest the rice before we headed onto a local graveyard.Interesting to see the very large tombs spread over vast amounts of countryside.We then called in on a lady making the conical hats, only 2 a day - I presume that this is where my mum bought her hat! A tour around the temple of a King before on a boat up the Perfume river and back to the hotel!What a day.I was hands free for a lot of the ride trying to persuade my driver to race the others …. He was having none of it!At one point we were going over a very bumpy off road section and his giggles cracked me up so badly which reflected in his giggles - we had to slow the bike right down!

Bad to bed for a nap before a bread roll for dinner!Nothing like an early night hey!