Full Moon Festival - Hue

 The lights are just coming on.

 Market stalls getting ready.

 People starting to throng,

The lotus flowers alight on the river.

Around Hoi An

 Lanterns abound - it was the full moon while we were here &that was really pretty.

 The old Japanese Bridge - very ancient.

Lotus flowers on the river.

Hoi An

 A rabbit greeted us at this hotel.

 The food in Vietnam has not disappointed - anywhere - this was just wonderful - who would have thought that chicken & passionfruit would work so well.  And we had a view!!

Night and lights turn any city into a magic wonderland.

Hue to Hoi An

 The road we wound up through the mountain pass to Hoi An.

 According to our driver, these are ruins of battlements from the war with theFrench.

 A perfect place for a wedding photo.

It was also a drink stop, chance to buy souvenirs (of course) - the photographer if on the roof to the left & you can just see the couple on the right.

Hue - still

To give us the stamina to walk back to the hotel, we stopped at this riverside cafe for a drink & ice-cream.

The beer came with its own plastic ice bucket - very sensible in that heat.

A delicious hotpot to finish off the day.

Signs in another country are always fascinating.

Still in Hue - around the Citadel

We didn't go in but walked around it - we were hot & tired & looking forward to getting back to the hotel.

Fishing in the moat - we stood & watched for quite a while.

Yep, this is what they were after!

This was one of the gates that led to the Citdale.

Hue

Although it was hot, we decided to walk into the Citadel area across the river.

We met a man who was hand feeding (with trusty pliers) around 20-30 baby birds.  From just out of the egg to some that would be ready to be weaned soon.  This was definitely a 24/7 job - reckon by the time he had fed them all, he'd have to start again. He told us he was 'Papa' to them all.

HofM inspected some planes, a helicopter & some big gun things that the Vietnamese had 'captured' from the Imperialist Army of America.  We think they were probably ones that had been abandoned by the Americans when they left.  There wasn't a mark on any of them.

Danang to Hue

We booked a car & drove to Hue - through a 6km tunnel through the mountains.  There were a couple of smaller tunnels as well.

First night in Hue, we ended up at the DMZ Bar to chat with some New Zealanders, have a couple of drinks & watch the world go by with all its noise & colour.

Next morning, brekkie on the hotel terrace complete with fake grape vine & grapes.

Petrol bowser's right on the footpath just so convenient.

Da Nang

 Lights of Da Nang.

 Some people have mirrors on their bedroom ceilings - we had a crab!!!

 Beach scenes.

Halong Bay

The junk\boat was very comfortable.

Vic picked an oyster which held a pearl. He wasn't allowed to keep it!

Sunset then dinner - the food was great.

Karaoke finished of drinking & talking & singing - of sorts.

Our guide at the oyster farm.

Day tour to Ninh Binh.

 The first King of  Vietnam's temple.

A trip through rice fields, into &  through caves with a rower who used his feet on the oars.

Then back to Hanoi's hustle & bustle