The motorcycle diaries day 4

Lie in again, nine am start and off we went for breakfast - a steaming bowl of pho - beef noodle soup, very yummy.
Then to museum which showed lots of examples of the different ethnic groups around these parts.
After that 'the most romantic place in pleiku' otherwise known as 'the mouth of the dragon' a crater lake where apparently lots of wedding photos are taken and proposals made. We enjoyed sitting under a little pagoda listening to the bass from the large speakers and sound system that someone had installed. Then we walked back up the hill and found a fire by the side of the road, it looked like a little shrine with three incense sticks and a rock but it was very dry around and there were twigs and trees so we put the fire out!

Driving out of Pleiku we stopped at a recycling plant (?) - the locals collect all the rubbish and sell it to this guy who then trucks it to Ho Chi Minh City or elsewhere. They have a different kind of rubbish to collect here though - buckets of shrapnel, ammo boxes and bits of old mines etc........

And then a sort of lumber yard only I can't remember the name of the wood..... The bark is stripped and used for a kind of glue, bits of it are used for incense and it's also used to make paper.... Very useful. As a side industry the owner also grows tapioca, which we had never seen before either.

And on to Kon Tum for noodle lunch and a shower.

The afternoon was Tin Tins. A roman catholic church and orphanage to start. Church beautiful, orphanage very clean and well organised so not as bad as might have been but still heart wrenching.

Finally on to ethnic village with traditional Rong house which was very cool to see. REALLY high roof with amazing structure on the inside all held up with rattan! On the way there we passed workers in a rice paddy who were getting the rice off the stalks so we had a go on their leg powered machine - we weren't very good!
Then we had to race the rain back, there was thunder but not rain so that was ok.

Dinner fantastic - local delicacy - Vietnamese pancakes. Martyn ate three - piggy. Having missed pancake day we feel we have compensated now. Beansprout and shrimp in batter with cucumber and lettuce wrapped in rice paper with a carrot, onion, garlic, chilli and lemon juice dip. More please!

We have sticky rice for pudding - just off to try it now!