Xin chao family and friends!!

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the cold weather!!! I am still melting in the heat here!

Jazmin and I are currently in Hue, Vietnam. We said our goodbyes to Pam the day before yesterday and so are now trying to figure it out all on our own. We are pretty seasoned travellers now so I'm sure we will be fine....time will tell.

We arrived in Hue yesterday afternoon via the 'Top Gear Trail' from Hoi An. For anyone that doesn't know, or doesn't watch Top Gear, the trail is a piece of coastal road between Hue and Da Nang the the boys (Clarkson, Hammond & May) attempted on no doubt bought and self modified/decorated scooters/bikes.

Jazmin and I, neither confident or licenced scooter drivers- we did receive and 5 minute lesson on riding the bikes up north in Mai Chau and then were let loose on the open roads, but this was probably going to be a bit more than we were capable of- decided that the best idea would be to hire local drivers to navigate the roads and obstacles along the way. And there were definitely a few obstacles- people, buffalo, road works, massive holes in the roads that just appeared, massive trucks on the road that also just appeared and weren't moving over for anyone or anything!!!!

The ride was stunning, up and over mountains- all along the coast- with amazing views of the ocean and islands. All hazy dark blues and greys in the distance. Gorgeous. Indescribable.

It was a long ride, 5 hours on the road in the hot sun, but totally worth it and is definitely my top recommended thing to do in Vietnam. We had the best drivers, Hau was my driver, stopping at all the best look out points, telling us bits and pieces about where we were riding and they were hilarious. We stopped at one point in this random village type thing because the drivers were thirsty- I think they wanted beer because it seems like everyone here is an alcoholic!!!- but there wasn't any. So instead we sat around with what seemed to be the desperate house wives/gossip circle of the village while they all obviously talked about us and laughed- awkward.

Along the way we also stopped at a river/waterfall for some lunch and a swim. Located in a national park, we walk along the river for a while past a whole lot of rock pools right to the top where we set up camp, alongside a group of local school children, and had a bit of a swim and possibly the best chicken I have ever had in my life!!!! Jazmin and I managed to eat between us a an entire chicken!! Seasoned with a chilli, lemon grass rub and then grilled over some coals, we did have to wait a while for it but it was completely worth it!!!! Yum yum yum!!!

We arrived in Hue, with really sore butts (this travelling thing really isn't good for my back) just in time for beer o'clock!! And we needed it.

Hope all are well. More to come soon. Xxx