In a few hours we will be off to Hanoi on a night bus. Instead of sweating our shirts wet and scrambling through the crowds of people that are in Hue at the moment, we decided to update our blog for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!
Motorbikes zooming over the bridge in Hue city towards the festivities.
We were soooo lucky to stumble upon The Hue Festival when we arrived in Hue. Too bad the communication on what was going on was non-existent, so we didn't actually see anything special aside from the hords of people and motorbikes out for our blood. This photo is Amanda standing in front of the old Citadel. Hue was once the Imperial Capitol. Note Uncle Ho in the background, who is pretty much big brother. He is everywhere.
Included in our over-priced city tour ticket was a cultural performance hosted at the craft center in Hoi An. The traditional dancing was the best part since we lost at the "bingo" game, which was a tradional folk game where two singers would draw wooden sticks with words that they would make up songs about. If you had the stick with the word they sang, then you won (a lantern in this case).
China Beach, in Danang. Sound familiar? This was the nicest stretch we found motorbiking from Hoi An to Danang. Most of it was scrub dunes with lots of construction. We wondered what it looked like in the 60's and 70's.
Colin with fat Buddha at yet another temple in the Marble Mountains. Other SE Asian Buddhas are very serious and graceful, but in Vietnam with the Chinese influence you get happy, fat, lucky Buddha who brings you money money money! Much like Santa Claus.
A large pagoda on the side of Marble Mountain. We didn't know what it was built or used for, but it was very striking. We met a woman from the US on our climb who was a seafood quality inspector for the US government that was extremely friendly, something we are not used to with the stand-offish locals and arrogant Europeans.
Some intricate details on a temple on Marble Mountian, near Danang. All the ornamentation is made out of broken pottery, like an old school collage.
Eggs, eggs and more eggs. Take your pick at the Hoi An market. The ones on the bottom left are quail eggs, delicious. You can also get fertilized duck egg, a very popular snack for the locals. It looks like you're eating a fetus, we have yet to try it.
The Japanese Bridge, built in the 1500's. Hoi An had strong trading ties with the Japanese and Chinese which was displayed in the architecture. There was a small temple in the center of the bridge and was gaurded on either side by dogs and monkeys (it was started in the year of the dog and finished in the year of the monkey).
Taken from the small peninsula across the river in Hoi An (also where we got some clothes tailored) this photo shows some of the crumbling historical buildings of this once major trading port. There were about 300 tailor shops in town, distracting Amanda and making Colin bored.
Cham ruins on a hill outside of Nha Trang. The Chams were once part of the Angkorian Empire from Cambodia. This ruin was pretty well reconstructed and had three praangs which once held shiva-lingas (Hindu phallic symbols).
Taking a moment to cool off after riding our bikes along the coast in Nha Trang. A small harbor with mountains surrounding the bay.
A paraglider whiping through the wind on Nha Trang Beach. The island across the way was a Vietnamese style adventure park/resort with a cable car connecting it to the mainland. The city ran right up to the beach and was crowded with locals in the evening when the locals would go for a swim fully clothed (the electricity here has been on and off because of the drought and many people look for a different way to cool off). During the heat of the day the beach is pretty much deserted, except for trash.
Motorbikes zooming over the bridge in Hue city towards the festivities. 
We were soooo lucky to stumble upon The Hue Festival when we arrived in Hue. Too bad the communication on what was going on was non-existent, so we didn't actually see anything special aside from the hords of people and motorbikes out for our blood. This photo is Amanda standing in front of the old Citadel. Hue was once the Imperial Capitol. Note Uncle Ho in the background, who is pretty much big brother. He is everywhere.
Included in our over-priced city tour ticket was a cultural performance hosted at the craft center in Hoi An. The traditional dancing was the best part since we lost at the "bingo" game, which was a tradional folk game where two singers would draw wooden sticks with words that they would make up songs about. If you had the stick with the word they sang, then you won (a lantern in this case).
China Beach, in Danang. Sound familiar? This was the nicest stretch we found motorbiking from Hoi An to Danang. Most of it was scrub dunes with lots of construction. We wondered what it looked like in the 60's and 70's.
Colin with fat Buddha at yet another temple in the Marble Mountains. Other SE Asian Buddhas are very serious and graceful, but in Vietnam with the Chinese influence you get happy, fat, lucky Buddha who brings you money money money! Much like Santa Claus.
A large pagoda on the side of Marble Mountain. We didn't know what it was built or used for, but it was very striking. We met a woman from the US on our climb who was a seafood quality inspector for the US government that was extremely friendly, something we are not used to with the stand-offish locals and arrogant Europeans.
Some intricate details on a temple on Marble Mountian, near Danang. All the ornamentation is made out of broken pottery, like an old school collage.
Eggs, eggs and more eggs. Take your pick at the Hoi An market. The ones on the bottom left are quail eggs, delicious. You can also get fertilized duck egg, a very popular snack for the locals. It looks like you're eating a fetus, we have yet to try it.
The Japanese Bridge, built in the 1500's. Hoi An had strong trading ties with the Japanese and Chinese which was displayed in the architecture. There was a small temple in the center of the bridge and was gaurded on either side by dogs and monkeys (it was started in the year of the dog and finished in the year of the monkey).
Taken from the small peninsula across the river in Hoi An (also where we got some clothes tailored) this photo shows some of the crumbling historical buildings of this once major trading port. There were about 300 tailor shops in town, distracting Amanda and making Colin bored.
Cham ruins on a hill outside of Nha Trang. The Chams were once part of the Angkorian Empire from Cambodia. This ruin was pretty well reconstructed and had three praangs which once held shiva-lingas (Hindu phallic symbols).
Taking a moment to cool off after riding our bikes along the coast in Nha Trang. A small harbor with mountains surrounding the bay. 
A paraglider whiping through the wind on Nha Trang Beach. The island across the way was a Vietnamese style adventure park/resort with a cable car connecting it to the mainland. The city ran right up to the beach and was crowded with locals in the evening when the locals would go for a swim fully clothed (the electricity here has been on and off because of the drought and many people look for a different way to cool off). During the heat of the day the beach is pretty much deserted, except for trash.
