What language barrier?

On the boat to the Pagoda Temple we made friends with this adorable little girl, Nha, and her parents. Nha didn't believe her mom that we couldn't speak Vietnamese, so told me many secrets with her hand to my ear. I just smiled and told her some secrets back. Her mom found the whole exchange hilarious, which it was.

From Make Me One With Everything

Imperial Hue

On the road again... this time by overnight train to Hue ("who-ay"), about halfway down Vietnam. It's right beneath the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from the Vietnam War, in fact.


(Stocked up on water - I'm ready!)

The train was fine, as we shared our bunk-room with a nice young couple from Holland. The primary drawback was the severe lack of food onboard, which, when combined with a multi-hour delay, made for one hungry morning!

On our first real morning in Hue, we rented bikes for a song and pedaled over the bridge to the Imperial Palace. Hue used to be the seat of Imperial power in the 19th century.

The bikes were brand-new, and it was great to have a little breeze as we traveled!

The Citadel of the Imperial Palace. (Blackened by bombs in the Vietnam war.)

Inside the Palace, China's influence on Vietnam was readily apparent, from the water features and dragons...

...to paper lanterns and symbols of happiness.

The architecture was great, as was the almost complete lack of crowds.

Though this hallway looked more Italian than anything else, at least to my inexpert eyes.