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After our last day in Hanoi we met the remaining members of our group: Jules (Julian) and Claire from the Waikato region in NZ, a great down to earth couple who we shared a cabin with on our overnight train trips; Penny and Holly, an irreverent English mother and daughter combo travelling with Holly's cousin Gemma, who works for ImTrav in the UK, and another Dave (also English - that's what comes of travelling with an English tour company...) who has since moved on in his travels to Sydney, where we've caught up with him a few times.

We boarded the (in)famous Reunification Express for our sleeper train to the former imperial city of Hue, home of Vietnam's last monastic dynasty, which was wound up following French occupation.  Apart from the historic sites along the banks of the attractive Perfume River (which are worth a visit) the modern town of Hue has little to commend it apart from as a tourist's way-point.  Still, the savoury banana pancakes at the deaf mute's restaurant were quite tasty, and the place certainly had atmosphere (especially when they put the puppy on the table).  And the hotel had a pool, which seemed to cheer up some of our fellow travellers.

Anyway, the historical Imperial City complex (another UNESCO site) is quite impressive, although despite having been abandoned less than 100 years ago it is largely in ruins: a lot of it was made of wood, which just doesn't last in the tropical climate; and the area was also bombed extensively during the American War (as they call it over here) - the notorious DMZ is only 100kms to the North.  Quan does a good tour guide bit on his Getaway video segment so click through and you'll get a bit more of the history.  

(L) Entrance to the Forbidden City (note the elephant at left); (R) Detail of the roof ornamentation

We also did the seven story pagoda and the King's summer retreat come funerary monument, enjoying tandem motorbike rides on the way back.

(L) Sand dredger on the Perfume River; (R) Seven Storey Pagoda

(L) Lotus flowers at the King's summer retreat; (R) Flick (left) and Eva hitch a ride back to the hotel

After an early afternoon spent poolside at the hotel followed by an outing to the post office and a hilarious bookshop full of kids (to find a birthday card for Flora), we hooked up with some of the gang for an enjoyable meal of local food.  

The next day we headed South via the Ocean Cloud Pass (rather similar to the Rimutaka Hill, except with rewarding views of the South China Sea, and a crowd of touts at the summit.  One for US$2 could be bargained, in time, down to four for $1, particularly when the bus was about to leave...  We passed through the major port city of Danang, which was a major American base during the war.  Nearby we stopped for a swim at China Beach, made famous by a TV series of the same name about what the GIs did on their time off.

Hoi Ann is a lovely little town, whose authenticity is again protected by its UNESCO World Heritage listing.  Apart from the usual sight seeing, it's principal attraction is over 200 tailors' outlets, including Yaly Couture, at which virtually everyone in the group had something made.  The sales routine was quite seductive, with free water, people swarming around taking measurements and showing cloth samples, etc etc.  The garments were then made upstairs, in a work environment that didn't seem too bad given the sweat shop reputation of the Asian fashion manufacturing industry.

(L) Typical Hoi Ann street scene; (R) Flick being fitted for her Ao Dai traditional costume.

However, it pays to know what you want and keep your wits about you: Dave's new suit, the fabric pitched as English wool, certainly doesn't perform like wool and on closer inspection the side strip reads "Super Wool 180s Made by England."  Still, for US$120 it's wearable, albeit that it will never be a favourite.

Amongst the fitting sessions the next day we managed time to hire bicycles and head to the nearby beach, accompanied by a couple of young boys who pretended to race us on their bike while laughing uproariously at some joke (presumably at our expense).  On the way back we passed them again, although at this stage Dave was feeling the effects of something and was desperately trying to outride an impending explosion.  No more shall be said.

Japanese Covered Bridge, Hoi Ann

In the evening we attended Miss Vy's School of Cooking at the Cargo Club restaurant/bar, which was too brief, but otherwise excellent.  We learnt how to chop various things up and make our own delicious spring rolls, salads, etc.  Afterwards we were treated to a feast, partly of our own making, and had to waddle back to the hotel in a very satisfied state.

We also checked out the local Fish Market, a hive of activity early in the morning.