Motorbike diaries....

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After an uncomfortable overnight bus journey (Asian buses are not designed for people with long legs and the drivers like to use the horn, just to warn everyone that they are there - all night) from Hanoi, we arrived in Hue. After checking into a very nice hotel for $15 a night for all three of us, we were besieged by motorbike drivers who would take us on a tour of the tombs that Hue is famous for. As we had only just arrived, we put them off by promising to do it the next day and went off to find somewhere to eat and to explore the town. After wandering around for the afternoon, including a stroll along the river, looking for the boats we had been told about in Hanoi (where you are entertained by local folk singers as you cruise - we couldn't find them!) so we opted to try Vietnamese noodle soup for dinner, it was ready really quickly and delicious - good fast food. We had a couple of drinks in a lovely french restaurant, before weariness got the better of us and it was off for an early night before our motorbike adventures began the following day.

After an altercation between Juliet's driver and another dude our trip was underway. I think for the first half an hour we all had our eyes closed as it was a bit hairy to say the least!! However we made it to the first tomb in one piece. We spent some time taking in the views a variety of temples and pagodas that day and had several stops for refreshments as the heat and humidity was intense. We asked our drivers to take us to see a covered bridge that was recommended in the LP. It was well worth the journey over some of the back roads of Hue. We sometimes found that we were ankle deep in hay, but each of our drivers negotiated their way through it well. We were rewarded at the end with a beautiful old bridge in which local people sought shelter from the heat of the day. After some further refreshment, we made our way back into town, passing many rice fields and their workers, people drying rice in their front yards and a river full of ducks!! We had asked one of our drivers to take a photo of us and after that he thought he was David Bailey - on the way back he stopped several times and asked us to stand beside some random objects to take a photo - only in Vietnam!! Our final stop was at Hue's Citadel. These buildings covered a huge area in the middle of Vietnam's former capital and it were surrounded by a wall and moat - very medieval. The heat of the day had finally beaten us so we headed for home, all looking a little windswept and sunkissed from our motorbike adventures!!

While waiting to board the bus to Hoi An , Sara got her shoes cleaned for the second time in six months - John McAdam - you now have international competition!!

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Photos

At last we met some men!!
Actual size

Scenic view!!
The temple - not us!!