We took an overnight train to Hue. Hue has recently been given the UNESCO World Heritage Site status. Hue is situated along the Perfume River and we took a dragon boat down river to visit the Heavenly Lady Pagoda & the tombs of the Nguyen Emperors. We always tried to have lunch in a local restaurant. It’s amazing what good food a dirty little kitchen can produce. Later that night we went out for drinks and caught local bicycle taxis home which is real fun as you don’t need to pedal and its heap J I hired a bike the next day and went for a long afternoon ride and managed to get amongst the local people. I even had a charades type conversation with a local Vietnamese man about his water buffalo & a cycle race with some of the local school kids. We then departed for Hoi An which went through a beautiful pass called the Ocean Cloud Pass. The pass reminded me of some of the Alp passes. I also saw some cyclists riding up & felt quite envious that I would not be able to. Hoi An was a really lovely city and there was a lot of shopping that can be done. I decided to have a new work suit made and a thick woolen coat. The total cost for this was $200. I think the coat alone would cost £500 in London. I sent it all home from Ho Chi Minh City & it has arrived safely. YAY. Everybody in the group had some clothing made. I think most people were happy with the end results. So if you want cheap tailored clothing, Hoi An is the place to go. We then did an overnight train ride to Nha Trang. I found this place to be a bit of a dump, and where it was modern it was overpriced and over flowing with hookers. This was where we could leave our large packs and just take a small pack for a 2 day trip to Whale Island. This is a small island in the South China Sea, which is a small piece of paradise. This was an awesome stay as I did not have to scuba as snorkeling provided enough coral and sea life to satisfy me. My toe was healing well at this stage, although I managed to split it again in a volleyball match. Sean & I went out on the hobby for a sail, which was interesting as I was struggling to get the boat to come about. I did manage to get us back to the beach safely though. Only afterwards I realized what I was doing wrong, but was too knackered to go out again. We also played beach volleyball against the locals and this time we won more than we lost which was great. Food was laid on for us and they had a great bar with an awesome view over the sea. It was really idyllic.