Green Hotel Hue

... Tunnels.

The tunnels are amazing, we went about 23m below ground, it was dimly lit and quite damp, the air was quite heavy and at times I felt a bit claustrophobic and these are the tunnels which apparently have been enlarged for tourists! I couldn't imagine living down there for any length of time, especially 6 years like some of the villagers did.

Next stop is Hoi An...

... the will of the VNese to get to end of job. Now, to all those out there who called me a dragon lady, you see it's not my fault, it's my heritage.

On this, i have to go take a shower because someone's going to kick me out of this hotel if i don't. Pierre and i wish you all a magnificent and safe long Thanksgiving weekend. And today is the day, my friends, my little bonhomme is officially on his pre-retirement leave of absence after a few weeks of vacation.

... The roads are really fun you see all kinds of things. Hopefully I'll provide you with some fun photos in the coming weeks! But for now just a few of the first day!!

Tomorrow is our first big day 80 K and we get to a seaside town. We start at 7.00 am cycling...but hopefully can spend the afternoon on the beach!! Let's see.....

OK arrived off the night train early again and headed straight to the mandarin cafe for breakfast and to book ourselves on the perfume river tour...Mission accomplished we then headed to the pier.

On boarding a dragon boat i fell straight asleep! I was so knackered because we had a total prat sharing a room with us on the sleeper train who insisted on opening the door at 04:30 so i closed it again..then he opened it ...

... 8217;t have been as appreciated, even though it was hot. At the top, where we were, were 3 buildings, one used for accommodation for the 8 or so staff that they had on hand, one for us, and the other building was the chow hall/general meeting area. We ordered up a huge feast of fried rice, chicken, and squid and all grabbed a shower and got back to eat and watch the sunset from the dinner table. We had all become pretty close from the hike up and I liked the vibe and chemistry that we ...

... to visit being Vietnamese Independence Day, many Vietnamese people had the day off work and were out to see the sights themselves as all national monuments were free.

The citadel consisted of reception halls, royal lodgings and a beautifully restored theatre. Unfortunately it suffered badly during the war; many of the building were still in a state of reconstruction and were scarred by shrapnel damage. Whilst the buildings and scenery were ...

... br>
Instantly, I forget about being the only Westerner. I forget about the dingy pillow and blanket. I no longer dread the 14 hour trip. My new friends keep me company the entire evening. We chit-chat, we laugh and my best bud across the aisle and I share my ear buds and listen to music together. When we stop for a stretch, they order me coffee, instruct me on how to drink it properly and insist upon paying. Back ...

... hot sweaty days, and most have had the 'smell' test administered on them to see if they can be worn multiple times. ATM was fun, if only for the fact that as I am into my overdraft, in the local currency, my balance is shown as being -19, 512, 000. Hopefully will never have to see that type of debt back in England, though to be honest I would have to work pretty hard at the spending to do so. I'm not saying I couldn't, just that it would take dedication and effort! Finally it was ...

... as the tourists leave. Nevertheless, it was nice to see how the incense is made traditionally, and the conical hats with their silhouetted designs when held up to light were quite novel.

Once we had spent enough time at the market to convince the tour operators and stall holders alike that we were in fact, not going to buy anything, we moved on to the first tomb. The entire length of the river here is lined with the tombs of the Kings that used to rule Vietnam. Although some of the ...

... off (in Vietnamese). We managed to figure out that we were going to take a bus somewhere - it turned out to the next station down the line. Apparently a cargo train had suffered a minor derailment. When we finally got on our new train, it turned out to already be full of passengers, but not paying ones. Many many cockroaches. For the final 6 hours we mostly played "kill the cockroach with the water bottle" and cards. Yup, next time I'm taking the bus!