The Song Huong (Sông Hương) or Perfume River rises in an inaccessible region of the Truong Son mountain range and descends through a series of 55 waterfalls before flowing through the heart of Hue and on to the South China Sea. It is not particularly long or large, but it is extraordinarily beautiful, an effect enhanced at Hue by the reflection of the walled citadel, pagodas, towers and temples. To this may be added the picturesque riverine traffic - women in white mollusc hats scull tiny, single-oared vessels back and forth from bank to bank, while larger boats piled high with vegetables and fish head for Hues bustling Dong Ba Market. Great lengths of bamboo tied in swathes are towed downriver, past rattan-roofed houseboats moored mid-stream with wisps of smoke issuing from tiny kitchen areas, and fishermen standing confidently upright in their narrow craft, casting their nets or retrieving fish traps.