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Oct.29 Woke up & talked about taking a trip to the DMZ (the Demilitarized Zone) north of Hue - but couldn't go up there - because of the flood. So instead we went sightseeing inside Hue. David & Annemette wanted to see the Thien Mu Pagoda - but the road was flooded too - so instead we walked over to the "Purple Forbidden City" - in knee high water - all the kids we met thought it was awesome to see 3 ferlangs in pulled up jeans & bare feet splashing through the water. (The purple forbidden city is part of Hue's citadel - & was used only by the emperor 100s of years ago - it was mainly destroyed under the Vietnam war & is now used as veggie gardens.) On the way we met Trine from Norway (whom David had traveled with in Indonesia) & Mutsumi from Japan whom Trine traveled with now. All of us decided to grab something to eat & on the way to the veggie restaurant we met 2 Norwegian guys - that Trine already met before. (I think she was pretty tired of one of them - ) After a lot of Scandinavian small talk - (David & Mutsumi felt left out) we crossed the bridge over the "Perfume River" it does NOT smell like perfume to the citadel area -where nightlife is hot & the best night restaurants are. We decided to eat at the #1. Restaurant at the deaf people (there is this family of deaf & mute & "midgets" who split up & made 2 restaurants right next door to one another - there's a lot of competition - but it works ! Body language & hand signs are used with a lot of charm & smiles - ! (Things happens here in this land still ruled by Mr. Agent Orange - Mr. Agent White - Napalm. There are so many crippled & deformed people & they all seems to forget & forgive - one feel stupid & simple - out here - the most important in life is LIFE itself!!! - something we tend to forget) After a great meal - we found a message from Perry on a nail on the wall - wow that was pure luck! So we said goodbye & good luck to Trine & Mutsumi going north - & David, Annemette & I walked over to Perry's hotel & left a note saying he could find us at the DMZ bar at le Loi st. 15 min after we had arrived - Perry & Birgit Susanne came & we all had a joyful night playing pool & drinking beer! Oct.30 Got up at 05:30 & went over to the bus - Perry booked a tour with our bus too. Drove up to the DMZ at the bridge over Ben Hai river & out at the tunnels at Vinh Moc , I stayed outside - the countryside is still dead - dusty - & red !! Rainforest disappeared & never returned - it's heartbreaking. The locals grow veggie's on the poisonous land - & kids grow up with strange diseases. They are poor what can they do? On the way back the bus had a flat tire & we had to wait forever to have it fixed! Oct.31 David was ill all night - & I'd been feeling dizzy today - Annemette & I went down to the local market where I bought an Ao-Dai [ao-szaii] a traditional Vietnamese women's outfit - it's white & got white silk flowers embroidered down the front - oh YES I'm "purdy" ! Later David & I had some stabilizer & a coke & felt a lot better! Bumped in to Geert again (I had hoped that some tribal people had eaten him! - but NO!)

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