……….you know the tune, and now we know why they didn’t include buses and glad we’re taking a little break from them for now.   The train was pretty good, everyone slept a little and twelve hours later we were in Hue, which according to the Lonely Planet is the intellectual, cultural and spiritual heart of Vietnam.  We won’t be here long enough to confirm that, but we can certainly say it’s the most beautiful little city we’ve seen in Vietnam so far………and the rain has passed us by and the heat is back.   Yesterday we took a long walk which brought us to the Imperial palace, actually a small walled city where the Nguyen dynasty lived and they ruled it from 1805 to 1947 although it was badly damaged by war in 1947 and then the Vietnam war, or as they call it here, the American war.

Following the long walk back Marilyn and I got our hair shampooed and washed……..and she threw in a face massage which was lovely.  Well she didn’t actually throw it in as we had negotiated the price and then she doubled it……..anyway a story to tell when I’m back!    We had another great supper, a super sleep and breakfast and then off again to the Thien Mu Pagoda which was founded in 1601 and apparently is one of the most famous buildings in Vietnam.    It was the home pagoda of Thich Quang Duc who immolated( burnt himself to death) in 1963 to protest the politics of the president.  Now monks and students gather there to study in the peaceful orchid-lined courtyard which today, even with all the tour buses coming and going, was actually quite peaceful and beautiful.

From here we are headed to Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon and so glad we learned to cross the street in Hanoi because HCMC  is even bigger which, of course, means more cars and motorcycles.  Should be exciting and we’ve decided to fly there rather than spend two days on the bus/train…..good for our sanity!