Busy As A Bee

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On our second full day in Hanoi we woke early and went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausolem. It was so full of tourists that I couldnt even take a decent picture. How dare they!

Not too far from there was Ho Chi Minh's Relic area, where we saw the house he used to live in. This was where a tour group from a Spanish speaking country begged me to be in a photo with them. Do I look like someone famous there? Ohhh, lucky me!

We also checked out the One Pillar Pagoda, The Hoa Lo Prison (Hanoi Hilton), and The Temple of Literature. At the Hanoi Hilton we got to meet some men who had served some time there. They were from America. I found it interesting that they used broken glass bottles on the top of the walls rather than barbed wire to stop the prisioners from escaping.

The Temple of Literature was beautiful. The yards were kept nicely, and it made me feel as though I had stepped into a movie.

After having a man chasing my dad for a few days now for a shoe shine, and him watching my dad through the hotel window whilst eating breakfast, my dad gave him some money without getting a shoe shine. Just generous I guess.... haha

We got a taste of the trains in Vietnam after our busy day in Hanoi. We got the train to Hue. Not the cleanest train I had been on. I braved the toilets though, when you need to go, you need to go!

The next day when we arrived in Hue we all went for breakfast at a little cafe in front of the hotel. The lady that owned it was so funny. She was so sweet when taking our orders, and then she would walk into the cafe, and scream who knows what at the people in the kitchen. She was a classic.

That day we went on a Dragon Boat along the Perfume River. We stopped at The Thien Mu Pagoda, and then visited the tomb of Emperor Tu Duc. I really enjoyed this place. Again it was set in beautiful surroundings, and with the water close by, it just made it the whole lot better.

A few of us had arranged some motorbikes to pick us up outside of the tomb. We all went for a ride through the countryside. We got to see how the other half of the Vietnamese lived, and it was an amazing experience. One of my favourite things I have done on this trip so far. After the long ride, the drivers took us all to Thuan An Beach, where we all took a nice refreshing swim, and ate some fresh pineapple on the beach.

On our last night in Hue, we all did some drinking at the lady's cafe, played some cards, and got attacked by mossie's. I hadn't really bothered with my malaria pills up until now.

Priscilla, my dad and I all hired some cyclos to take us around the city at night. Then we all wanted to have a turn of cycling our drivers. It wasnt such a good idea, because we had the police come up to us, and tell us to get back into the passenger seat. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

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