Steve McQueen eat your heart out!

---

Geo: 16.4667, 107.6

Hue city. We got off the train and headed to our hotel (avec une rooftop pool - tres nice!) Had breakfast in Vietnam's answer to Sa Coma strip, and then huddled together around a group of local men and their throbbing machines! We had to stand in a group and wait to be chosen. Horrible flashbacks of year 9 PE lessons prevailed, until a sweet old gentleman took me by the hand (it was a cross between a formal dance and a nightmare to be honest) and fitted my helmet!

After a brief lesson on how to hold on (anywhere that did not choke the driver basically), I opted for hanging, with grim determination, onto the bars at the back of the bike. Until the engine roared to life and I grabbed hold of his waist and locked my fingers together, probably squeezing all escence of life out of the old bugger.

We toured in convoy 18 bikes in a giant snake, out through the sreets of Hue, heading out into the local countryside. We had numerous stops, by the rice paddy fields, local pagodas, the old tomb of the king and the best part of all, a rice museum. The little old lady, with the black teeth and perpetual grin, who greeted us was the sweetest old dear in the world. She made Mother Theresa look like a mere normal old lady! The lady posed in a variety of postitions, allowing us to take photos, singing songs, giggling and chanting away, and showing us the different ways rice could be harvested and used. She then showed us the best part of the day. A basket, with a dolly in which, when she flicked a switch, played 'Barbie Girl' in hyper techno Asian style! She rocked it to sleep, lauging and smiling the whole time. Genius. This woman should have her own prime-time show!

We went to the Japanese bridge (one of the most famous in Vietnam) and I had my fortune told. Apparently I am going to be married with a baby in the next 2 years, and have 1 girl and 2 boys in total, but my 'husband' and at this I looked over at Stacey with a smile, would buy me a house, and love me with all his heart, but be a drunk! Ah well, you can't have everything!

Then it was off to meet the hat-maker Miss Twee, who was born with only one arm, and still figured out how to make the conical hats in order to earn a living. She was wonderful - most people bought big hats, but we bought a stack of little ones to hang as a souveneir, as nowhere to store the hats in our backpack!

Then we went to a local orphanage and monastery. There is where we will get these mystery 3 children - the children there were adorable, and I wanted to take tem all home! Lunch there to support the orphanage was a number of local dishes and was yummy. Tummy was not happy though after eating and was gurglingaway like a geyser!

Back on the motorbikes to an insence stall to be shown how they make Joss Sticks. Stomach bad. Vomit ensued. Quick motorbike ride to a temple. Tummy awful. Back to the incense shop for a toilet stop before the total abandonment of the tour for me. The women who made the incense made me rub Tiger Balm on my belly and drink green tea... Who knows, maybe it was just enough to get me back to the hotel!

Dinner was torture. Amazing aromatic curries and Tiger beer with popadoms, naans, daal... amazing. For me? Egg fried rice. Arse. But there was much hilarity when I realised that the song playing was not 'Like a Virgin' by Madonna, but 'Like a Surgeon... Cut for the Very first time!' Genius!

And so to bed, up early for a tour of the imperial citadel and forbidden city. Nothing much to report, it was nice, but had been heavily used by the VietCong and US forces during the war and was totally destroe and so had been reconstructed and was in the long, slow process of being rebuilt. I think I had been a bit spoilt at the Forbidden City in Beijing!

Then onto the minibus for a tour of Marble Mountain (a cave used as a hospital by the Vietcong), lunch at the beach and into Hue for a wander round the streets and a lovely dinner!

Beach tomorrow and 2 extra days to recover in Hoi An! xxx

---