We left Hanoi last night after a quick dinner and a ride across town, which is an adventure in itself. We were in "soft- sleeper" cabins which turned out to be 4 rock-hard bunks in a tiny cabin. The old train bucked and jolted through the night. Aaron woke up throwing up and with bad diarrhea during the night so we had a pretty short sleep, except for Max who slept like a log. Keith and Heidi didn't sleep much either. At first light we were able to see out at the countryside rolling past. Miles and miles of small farms and rice paddies. Despite (or because of) the few inconveniences it was a great adventure and we all arrived in Hue at 8AM in high spirits. Aaron shook off his illness and was fine today.

We hired a car and toured three really interesting sites with temples, tombs and fabulous old buildings. One of the sites, "The Citadel" was about 1/2 square mile, surrounded by a moat and a high wall with dozens of interesting buildings. The last site was next to the
Perfume River, where we boarded a sampan-style "Dragon Boat" and motored back down the river several miles to Hue.

We had a great dinner with lots of local Hue dishes at a nice little restaurant. It was about $22 for the eight of us. We are back in our hotel now, dog tired and ready for bed at 7:30. We love our room. Big room with windows on three sides and a big balcony overlooking the city.

We have hired a 16 passenger mini bus and driver to make the three hour trip to Hoi An tommorrow.
Tim