Today we spent the whole day on an adventurous bike tour around Hue. This morning we rode down streets that were lined with flower stalls for teachers day. It is an important day for the Vietnamese and the people buy flowers for their teachers and former teachers. As we ventured into the countryside, we saw the change from urban city to countryside villages. We visited Thien Mu Pagoda where we saw the car of Quang Duc, the monk that chose to set himself alight, in protest of the prosecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnam government in 1963. Next we rode to a Buddhist pagoda where monks live and practise the religion. We sat down to eat a vegetarian Vietnamese meal, which is eaten by the monks. After our meal we had a short lesson in meditation, but very few of us could reach the lotus position. Next we arrived at the Hue colosseum, a small arena where the King used to be entertained by elephant and tiger fighting, the elephant won on most occasions. With a small snack break to get some ice-creams, we made our way to the French bunker located on a hill facing towards the Perfume river. The views were amazing and we could see mountain ranges in the distance. After many challenging hills we arrived back in the city, to find ourselves in the midst of peak hour traffic. The intersections looked intimidating, but with caution and patience we were able to cross safely. We are sure we will all be stiff and sore tomorrow! After we arrived, we had a quick swim in the rooftop pool located on the 11TH FLOOR. We could see the whole of Hue from the water. At 6:30pm we followed Hai to a street full of restaurants and enjoyed a lovely free choice of dinner. We are having the best time and don’t want to leave Vietnam, but we are excited to see everyone back home soon!
Issy and Charlotte 
