Motorbike tour around Hue

I was really scared to get on to a motorbike at first - after my observations as a pedestrian! But it was also because I couldn't imagine how I would stay on the vehicule as I had never ridden a motorbike before. So when we approached the drivers, I chose the most placid looking one. It seemed my instincts were correct as he was very sweet - when it started raining, he stopped the bike and got me out a mac. It made me very sweaty and was not really needed as by the time we got it on and caught up with the group again, it had more or less stopped raining, but it was sweet all the same.
I gripped tightly to the back of the bike but as soon as we got off the curb, it felt ok, and then I got cocky and didn't hold on at all. As a pedestrian it feels daunting weaving in and out of the bikes, but when on the motorbike, it was actually quite exciting and relaxing.
The leader of the tour was quite an entertaining character. He had a wicked laugh and would make big gestures to accompany every single thing he said. Consequently, his explanations tended to take some time. Our first stop was an animal fighting arena. Tigers and elephants used to fight in the arena. Apparently, the emperor who built the arena would order the tiger's claws and most of its teeth to be taken out so that the elephant would win the fight. The tiger would be starved before the fight so that it would find it too tempting not to attack the elephant.

Next stop: incense making. I had a go at rolling some incense sticks but resisted buying any as I have no room to carry such luxuries! My driver had picked up some meat along the way which looked almost unfit for human consumption.
Then on to a Buddhist pagoda. It was very tranquil. We watched 4 monks praying. They pray at 4am, 10am and 4pm, and meditate twice a day, as well as surf the internet, play football and occasionally go out to pray for people.
The praying we observed lasted about 15 minutes. One of the monks looked thoroughly unimpressed and another kept yawning. They didn't seem to want to be there, but then I don't know the first thing about Buddhist prayer rituals. There was quite a lot of melodic chanting/singing, banging of bells and getting up and down from the floor. Quite fascinating to watch.
The tour guide told us that unlike in Thailand and Laos, monks in Vietnam do not go out asking for money, but live purely on donations they receive, that people bring to the pagoda.
It turned out that my sweet driver had bought the meat to feed to a dog who was starving, staggering around just inside the gates of the pagoda. Either that or he had bought it for himself and had decided the dog needed it more.
Then we went to an orphanage, run by nuns. The conditions seemed very good and the children seemed very happy. There were about 200 children there, with a percentage of disabled children, including a blind toddler waving his little hand in front of his eyes. I'd never been to an orphanage before. Although the children seemed to be well looked after, the place still had a desolate, lonely feeling to it.
We visited a royal tomb next, which was more like a village - it went on forever! Building after building. It was a place to amuse the emperor who was buried there during his life, as well as his resting place. It included a theatre and beautiful grounds.
Then we drove out to the countryside to see a lovely covered bridge. Sitting underneath it were mainly very elderly men, dressed in white and taking it easy. On the other side of the bridge we saw 3 beautiful water buffalo frolicking in the water, in what I'm guessing is their favourite time of the day. They seemed very relaxed and playful.