The Motorcycle diaries day 7

Hello parents - no blog for a while and now 7 days for you to catch up on. We've kept them all until now so we can tell you that we have finished on the motorbikes(!) and we are all safe! So you'll have to click back to the start (Motorcycle diaries day 1) to catch up in the right order! Its back to foot, bus, boat and plane power for us now.

So day 7 - from Hoi An to Hue via Lang Co beach (we were supposed to stop there but the $7 a night room was grim and the beach side resort was full (of Vietnamese, how inconsiderate, actually having a holiday when we are in the middle of ours!) so Wing and Tin Tin kindly bought us to Hue.

Left Hoi An early at 7.30, had to laugh with Wing and Tin Tin as they must have overslept and they missed breakfast! Tin Tin had to stop for petrol which caused a few organisational jokes but he had the last laugh later on when Wing ran out of fuel!

First stop a marble carving shop (very expensive!) and then the marble mountains (which the marble that is carved does not come from as the government banned them from taking it as they were destroying the tourist attraction....instead it is trucked from near Hanoi!). Lots of tourists here which was a bit shocking for us as we've managed to avoid the buses so far!

Stopped at the side of the road on the outskirts of Danang at a little fishing village to see women gutting fish and laying it all out to dry in the sun and then up and over the Hai Van Pass which was another stunning drive. We thought about buying a ridiculous sized vase, painting and model ship (like on Top Gear) to put on our bikes but figured our bags were big and heavy enough!

Brief interlude at a roadside place that distils an oil from a leaf that is a bit like eucalyptus and then on to lunch. Wing asked if boiled chicken was okay. We said 'yes, lovely'. It was certainly fresh. There was a squawk from behind us and I noticed a cage with 6 (minus 1) chickens in. Fortunately the chicken was taken behind the house. Boiled chicken arrived. All of it. Literally. Feet, head, the lot. WIng and Tin Tin kindly gave us the drumsticks.

I was intrigued how they got the feathers out so quickly. Apparently they slice the neck and let the blood drain and then plunge it in boiling water briefly three or four times, then the feathers pull out really quickly, chop it up, gut it and boil it. Easy. They have to slice the neck because if they chop the head off the chicken runs around!

I wouldn't have wanted to be a chicken today - there were only three left in the cage when we left, everytime someone arrived there was a squawk!

After a very necessary petrol station stop for Wing we arrived in Hue and found a very nice hotel on our second try.

Said goodbye to the best two tour guides we have ever had. I didn't cry, honest, well not much anyway. I have discovered one bit of travelling I really do not like and that is all the goodbyes. Ho hum, you can't have a goodbye without a hello and it was an honour and a pleasure to travel with Wing and Tin Tin for a while!

Cool shower, give laundry in (apologise profusely for smell!) and off to explore Hue, wandered to Citadel where there is a local gastronomy and bonsai fair happening because of the holiday, mingled with the locals for a bit and then dinner - pizza. Feel a bit like we let Wing and Tin Tin down at this point but hey I'm not sure I can cope with any more spinach and garlic!

Next, sleep. 7 days on motorbike, you think you're just sitting there but its really quite tiring. We've found a hotel with a pool for tomorrow so we're off to use that for the day - mind you its raining at the moment so maybe not.

Oh, and we have a pet gecko in our room, yay. Haven't been this close to one since Siem Reap, was missing them. We've called him Gordon! (I hope its a he!)

So there you have it, the Henderson's 'motorcycle diaries'. Not quite the epic that Ernesto produced and we haven't managed a whole continent, but then neither of us is planning on turning into a revolutionary either! Hope you enjoyed our motorcycle diaries as much as we enjoyed the exploits that allowed them to be written.

'Next bit' as we have taken to saying!

('Tin Tin' - left, and 'Wing', right - Sad to say goodbye, a true pair of professional,and very funny guys - we'll miss you! - if you're looking for the 'original' Dalat Easy Riders, look out for these blue jackets!)