Had a lazy start to the day. Missed brekkie at the hotel (what a shame) and went to the DMZ for yummy banana crepes and omlettes. Daniel wasn't feeling well so he decided to stay at the hotel for now while Sue and Steve grabbed a cab to the markets.

It was very hot again today. Sue commented that if this was their autumn, I don't think we'd cope in summer. The local markets were very crammed and stuffy. We were on the hunt for a soft-sided travel bag (mainly to fit all the goodies we'd purchased). We wandered through the narrow stalls and were surprised to find when the people don't speak English, they don't tend to hassle you as much.

We found a lady selling all types of bags from backpacks to full suitcases. We saw one that we'd been quoted $13 previously at a shop near the DMZ. The lady wrote down $30USD in a book. When we expressed our shock, she crossed out the $30 and put $20. When we declined that she indicated we should write down the price we'd consider which was the $13 we'd been quoted elsewhere. As with all haggling, if the price is very low they smile and shake their head saying "no, no". When we shrugged and started to walk away she called back and said "ok, ok". Steve gave her a small tip to round off the change from 300,000 dong to keep onside with karma.

We looked around Hue and saw some very impressive hotels around. One boasted to be the only 5 star hotel in town. Sue did a search on the hotel we're staying in and the reviews were scathing. Pretty much in line with what we'd experienced but some were even worse. Next time we'll pay the extra and go a bit more up market.

Daniel was still unwell so we left him to rest while we explored the streets. The souvenir shops are few and far between and a stark contrast to Hoi An. We flagged down a cab and pointed to a map to one of the gates near the citadel. After a few blocks, Sue had suspicions that the driver had not understood where to take us. When we had passed the bridge we should have crossed, Steve got him to pull over and look at the map again. The penny dropped and he appologised, did a u-turn and took us back to the bridge. No tip for that guy.

We wandered through the narrow gate, dodging traffic and negotiated with a rickshaw driver to take us for a short 30 minute ride. Sue (being chopped liver) got the non-english speaking driver while Steve had a great old chat with his. Steve kept looking back to make sure Sue was close behind and the driver said "don't worry, if you lose your wife you stay here and in one month I have young girl for you". He was very funny and said " you know pehaps you like me, now just one wife but before, many girlfriends". He was a very funny bloke but Sue wasn't too impressed.

He took us to lots of little out of the way places like the Emperors garden - a bonzai garden with a huge variety of plants. Some were only 15 years old and looked very impressive. A huge tree over 250 years old was 900 million dong - about $40,000. Thats probably pretty cheap for a plant that is older than white settlement in Australia. There were quite a few things that we can take Daniel to see the following day.

A few years ago in Vietnam, the average family only had one motorcycle. Now everyone has one. The Japanese made ones used to cost $8000 but they started making them in Vietnam which sell for $800. Cheap Chinese made ones are available for $300 but only last about a year before they pack it in.

Had a really nice dinner with a nice setting at the Tropical Garden. It seemed very popular with the other foreigners. One curious thing was we noticed that there were a couple of typo's that had been copied over with pen. On closer inspection the "with crab meat" had actually read "with crap meat". I'm guessing some kind Ingrish speaking person corrected them sometime in the past. Finished the night with cocktails and dessert at the DMZ with our favourite waitress.

A note about spring rolls - every restaurant has there own recipe and no two are the same. Most are only small and no bigger than your thumb. We made a point to try as many types as we could. They're like no other we've tasted in Australia. Absolutely delicious! One thing that has been constant is the fish sauce that spring rolls are dipped in. Its much milder than expected and very sweet without an overpowering fishy taste.