We, us humble pair, are now in Hue (pronounced as in Whaaayyy!) just past the middle of the country. We're in a lovely little hotel - but Vietnam is dotted with lovely little hotels that put the west to shame (Comrade).

Over the last four days we've been in a place called Hoi An, just south of Danang (where the Marines landed in 1969, you remember don't you?) where all the tailors of Vietnam come to ply their trade - around 500 of them at the last count. And we've had a rare old time.

I've had a 3-piece suit (Jacket, Waistcoat and Trousers) made - black with blue and grey pinstripe. I look very dapper. Fiona has had two suits made (she assures me she needs them for work, but I have yet to see her work a day in her life so I am unsure). One is grey with both trousers and a skirt for a more casual look, and one is black with grey pinstripes. She looks like a real, mean lawyer in the second suit. Eek! We've had them posted home so we don't wear them everywhere here. Even if the suits don't last (which we are pretty sure they will, they look well made) the experience of a Hoi An tailor was a great deal of fun.

On the second day we attended a cookery course where we learned to make Pho (Noodle Broth with Meat which is BRILLIANT), Claypot Mackerel, Vietnamese Chicken Salad and finally Garlic and Chilli Shrimp cooked in Banana Leaves. The secret to Vietnamese cooking is wonderful ingredients - most of the place is taken up by agriculture - but we'll try our best to repeat the recipes when we get home. The whole day was very enjoyable in a delightful surrounding (kitchen by a swimming pool dahhhling). Sadly, we didn't get any photos but we hope one of the girls on the course with us will send them on.

The reason we didn't get any photos was because our old camera died on us. The lens would come out the camera as normal but then make a very horrible grinding noise before retreating back into the case.
We thought all was lost....but I googled the problem and came across a step by step way of fixing it. One trip to an opticians owned by a local (who gave me a ride on his moped) later and I had the right screwdrivers. I opened the whole camera up and took it apart into tiny bits, right down to the focus gears past the lens (I even took out the CCD chip for all you photographic nerds). Turns out the step by step was right and one single grain of sand had worked it's way into the gearing, jamming it. I removed the offending article and put it all back together again. Surprisingly it works fine now, which is going to save us the great expense of a new camera!

That's really it for now, other than the news that we finally have a plan for China which I will share in a later blog. I also have not forgotten about Ross's guest blog that I will continue to hassle him about - as if he's got anything better to do!

Toodle Pip!

Stu & Fi