Hue in the rain, then onto Hoi An

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We arrived in Hue and it was absolutely tipping it down and didn't really stop for the 2 days we were there which was a shame. It's quite a big city but is mostly famous for the temples and pagodas in the near-by area.
The first afternoon it was still spitting a bit but we went to the Hue Citadel Imperial City which is a huge fortress over 10km squared, built in 1805 by the emperor at the time. It has temples, palaces, the old royal theatre, library, and lots of statues etc, although most of these things were derstroyed during the Indochina wars over the years, however they are working on restoring a lot of them now.
The second day Huong recommended we do a motorbike tour around the city but as it was still raining we chickened out and rented a car (and driver, there's no way you would want to tackle these streets with the traffic!) and Huong came with us and we went to all the places he suggested to go to, we saw an old, covered bridge and little market, went to the site of the Emperors tombs, and also saw the Thien Mu pagoda which overlooks the Perfume River and is probably one of the oldest pagodas in Vietnam.
That evening we went to a restaurant called Little Italy which was fantastic, having lived on noodles and fried rice with combinations of meat/veg for the last 2 weeks, pizza was amazing!!

The next morning we went on a 4 hour bus ride south to Hoi An, a lovely little town on a river but also close to the sea. It used to be an important trading port from 16-18th centuries, encouraging japanese, chinese and french traders to come to the city who each influenced the city through culture and architecture, but then the water level dropped so it couldnt be a port anymore. The Old Quarter is lovely though, lots of little streets with cafes, art galleries and regular tourist shops. Hoi An is also the place to go if you want tailored clothes so there are loads of tailors on the streets as well. Elaine had 3 blouses made for about 35 dollars each, and Mike had a suit made for only 130 dollars! I decided I didn't need anything...!!
The first day we were there it was National Women's Day and the men treated me and Elaine to dinner - very nice!! Went to quite a nice restaurant and sat on the upstairs balcony under the stars, was really good. It was still raining in the morning but the afternoon and evening were great, it wasn't cold at all, just raining.
The next morning it was raining again so we decided against going to the beach and instead just did a few more tourist sites round the old town, in the evening Huong and Mike and I played pool in the hotel outside bar area which was good - the first actual evening entertainment activity we have done since we started this trip - God, I am saving so much money at the moment!! Although I have discovered why the men don't drink...Bill has been dry for 15 years but before that he was an alcoholic for 10 years! And Mike obviously grw up from age 11-22 with an alcoholic father so he steers clear of the stuff too! It is the second marriage for both Elaine and Bill and they have been married for 15 years - they actually met in yoga class at a ceremony to celebrate Bill having been dry for 2 years...they then went on a few dates and got married a couple months later! Although they are 66 and 68 they don't act it at all, more like 50 yrs old and they have done so much travelling in the past 15 yrs, they've been to Nepal, Mongolia, Tahiti, South America, New Zealand, Thailand, and the next trip they want to do is either Madagascar or the west border of China, part of the silk route. Mike is a computer technician for hewlett packard, lives in the middle of rural Oregon on his own, in a converted outhouse of a farm house with a wood-chip fire he has to light everyday when he gets in from work and takes 2 hours 2 heat up....I think he likes the excitement of going away with Bill and Elaine on their big trips! They are all lovely people and we are getting on well, Elaine told me already that they are going to adopt me at the end of the trip...!!
So anyway on Monday we went to My Son which was a religious center for the Cham people between the 4th and 13th centuries. The buildings are mostly religious-oriented, with temples and relaxing areas and praying areas etc. There were originally about 80 different buildings on the site but only remains of 20 are still visible - the rest got bombed in the war.
It's incredible though, it's still a mystery as to how the buildings were actually constructed and how the remaining buildings are in such good condition. The bricks are laid with no obvious cement between the layers (they think they may have used tree sap), and the blocks of stone with such intricate carvings would have been nearly impossible to make at that time due to limited technology! Bits of the buildings they have reconstructed with bricks in the last 30 yrs are growing moss and mould between the layers, however the brick walls over 1000 yrs old have hardly any signs of decay...! So the ruins are quite amazing. We walked back through the forest/jungle area and saw huge bomb craters, it was quiet too, and grey and misty, was the first time i really felt a bit like in a warzone.
When we got back to Hoi An on the bus the sun finally decided to come out late afternoon so Mike and I hired bicycles and went to the beach for a bit which was nice, then we had dinner at a place in the Old Quarter and packed up ready to leave the next day.

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