Following our memorable bus journey we arrived in Hue as 2 very tired souls and 1 dodgy knee. Steve went into town whilst I rested, on a mission to buy a knee support strap for me - this was quite difficult to communicate so he returned with 2 deep heat patches and we cobbled together some sort of support using a bandage from our trusty first aid kit. Dr Stocks obviously knew what he was doing as it actually felt good enough to walk on and venture out to explore Hue. Hue is built up along the Song Huong River (Perfume River) and so we rented a cyclo to take us over the bridge to visit the citadel. It is another of Vietnam's sprawling creations but it was really lovely in parts and there is a massive restoration project going on as much of it is in disrepair after being heavily bombed during the Vietnam War. Much of the land inside is now used for growing plants and vegetables and there seems to be a whole community that has sprung up inside the walls. There is also quite a novel invention the staff use for mowing the lawns inside the citadel.....elephants. There were 2 or 3 hoovering up the grass that the employees had just cut! That evening we headed to a tiny place called Cafe on Thu Wheels. We were "gently persuaded" by the larger than life character of Thu and from the numerous good reports from other travellers to take a motorcyle tour of Hue the following day. The deal was confirmed with a dinner of baked potato with Heinz baked beans! We headed out early on the back of separate motorcycles to the surrounding countryside. We instantly knew we had done the right thing booking the trip as we would never have seen all that we did from a boat or bus. As we drove through the villages people smiled and waved at us and it was great to see the colours of the rice fields. It was as if someone had got hold of a can of bright green paint and thrown it across the fields, they were that vibrant. We stopped at various points along the way and the guide explained each place in great detail. The local market by the Japanese bridge was buzzing at that time of the morning and people were oblivious to us as we walked around watching them buy the freshest of fruit and vegetables and fish (still alive of course...the fish that is). We visited Thien Mu Pagoda which was once home to the monk called Thich Quang Duc. There is a very famous photo of him as he set himself alight in protest of the policies of the then President. It was very peaceful and beautiful at the pagoda and we saw a large group of monks walking through the forest and others performing one of 2 daily ceremonies. It was really interesting to watch the young boys in training to become monks and see their role in the ceremony. Despite having sore rears from travelling on the bike we travelled up to the abandoned war bunker which overlooks Hue and the Perfume River. It was very strange to hear our guide talking about what went on here during the Vietnam War - he was obviously very passionate about his people and what they suffered at the hands of the Viet Cong. Its actually difficult to know what to say having heard people from both the north and the south relating very different tales of war time that have been passed down to them. We came to the conclusion that it was best not to say anything for fear of opening up some very deep wounds. We headed back to the city and waddled John Wayne style to our guest house! It had been a great day and a fantastic way to see Hue...we told Thu this later on that evening at the cafe, but of course she already knew and gave us the pen and book to write down our reccommendation!