Hue... city of something or other

As we continue our southward adventure through Vietnam we are discovering some things stay the same, no mater where you are in this country.
The first thing is that little children everywhere want to be your best friends. The second is that all noodles appear to be instant noodles... all the "fresh Vietnamese noodles" we read about in our guide book still allude us. Thirdly, every price we (other wise known as "white people") pay is anywhere between 50% to 400% higher and when we point this out, most vendors refuse to give any type of discount or engage in a bargaining game. They'd rather keep their product. It is strange, annoying, and often at times really upsetting. We've also be told we can't go down certain streets, on certain boats, certain places, because we're not Vietnamese. It feels a little... well racist.
However, we have been managing to have a very good time here, as long as we aren't trying to buy anything. We took a bus to the town of Ninh Binh and a motorbike out to an area known as Tam Coc. Here there are large limestone rocks jutting out of the rice paddies, similar to the rock islands around Catba and Halong Bay. We got into a little two person boat and were rowed among them. It was beautiful. Then our guides took us to another pagoda, where a bunch of school children lead us to their hide-out atop one of these huge limestone rocks. When we got to the top they put flowers in my hair and continuously asked us the same questions that every Vietnamese child must have learned in school: How are you? What is your name? Where are you from? What time is it? What is your telephone number?. It was a very good time and the view was incredible. We drove on these tiny roads in between rice paddies and little villages... it was very very nice.
Today we are in the ancient city of Hue... which is proving to be somewhat of a dud. We rented a motorbike instead and left the city, got lost in the rice paddies, and had our palms read by an old Vietnamese woman who had been married to an America. My palm says that I will live to be 79, I will have only one husband, I will not have a good job until I am 25, but when I get that job I will stay with it for 27 years and make lots of money. There are three boys that have loved me, but I have not loved them. That Justin will be my husband and he will be a good one. I will be married at 28... have one son and make my parents very happy. So there you have it folks! It was a blast driving through the little muddy streets with all of the village children running out to say "Hello!".
Tomorrow we are going to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from the Vietnamese war (here it is the "American War" and the day after we will take a bus to Hoi An, the city of tailors. I still have yet to find a place with a connection decent enough to upload photos :( Hopefully in Hoi An.