I'm arrived in Hue, Vietnam today (near the middle), having spent a few days in the north of the country, namely in the capital Hanoi (which President Bush also visited this week) and in beautiful Halong Bay (pics forthcoming, I can't be bothered right now). I wasn't going to stop here, but a bartender in Hanoi convinced me - she's from Hue, and she gave me the card to her parent's cafe/tour booking/all around kinda place. I spent the morning and early afternoon there, chatting with her mom (and a couple of other English-speakers who came along), who convinced me not to take the Demilitarized Zone Tour that her little business offers. It's long and there's not much to see she says - with the exception of the tunnels that the Vietcong army (and their families) lived in - lots of people living in tiny, dark, damp space 12 meters below the earth. Nonetheless, I think I'll just hang out and not take the 2 1/2 hour drive to see them. One family fun fact is that their poverty during the 1975-1986 'subsidized years' inspired Ushi and her husband to nickname their children Dollar, Bijou, Gold, and Rupee (This I had already heard from Dollar in Hanoi). Their grandson is nicknamed Euro. Ushi talked alot about the corruption in the government. She told me that the people in the South still hate the people in the North - she actually called the governing communist party the Vietcong in explaining her point to us. For what it's worth, that's how I spent most of my day. Since arriving in Vietnam, I've been asked by a few of the older people if I speak French. It makes me so sad to say, "No, je ne parle pas francais." Sigh. Maybe I'll try with Dollar's dad; he looks patient.