The Hue trip started the night before because we had the adventure of the overnight train from Hanoi to Hue.
The gang gathered in the foyer slowly, over the hour before we were due there. I bought some pastries from a nearby bakery for breakfast then had dinner with the Irish girls, Michelle and Johanna. At the designated time, we all got back on the bus to the train station then boarded the train. We're assigned to our cabins, which are small (about 2 x 2 m) and shared between four people. I was grouped with the English couple, Mick and Anita, and Tham. Ours is a quiet cabin next door to the party cabin. With cabin door closed, it's relatively quiet, but the train's noisy and rocks and rolls. And one of the staff has brought a kitten that mewls constantly!
I managed to sleep, off and on, most of the night. The experience was not as bad as had been suggested, but the cabin was still and hot, which made the sleeping even more uncomfortable. The group were up an about after 6:00 AM and wandering around the train. I spent the morning in the cabin, with Tham sleeping for a lot of the time. I was reading and watching Vietnam flow by the windows.
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| Scenes of Vietnam from the train |
When we got to Hue, we were on another bus and driven through the quieter but hotter city of Hue to a restaurant for an early lunch while the hotel prepared the rooms for us.
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| Street scenes in Hue, including the Perfume River |
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| The gang playing Jenga after lunch |
After lunch, we were bussed down to the Gold Hotel where we checked in and refreshed before heading out to tour the Emperor's Citadel in the afternoon. Tham had delayed the tour because it was so hot (38 degrees; feels like 42, said one person's phone). That was a blessing, as the relatively long walk around the citadel was certainly hot and it was very still most of the time.
Here are a few shots of the citadel. [Update: I've added some more photos here. There's still more.]
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| One of the temples in the citadel | One of the original gates (undamaged during the war) |
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| Inside the gate of the first wall | The queen's courtyard/garden retreat |
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| View to the gate into the central citadel ("Forbidden City") | Peaceful reflecting pool in the forbidden city |
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| The main reception hall of Emperor's Citadel | A hedge clipped to be an elephant "protecting" the reception hall |
After the tour of the citadel, which was a very interesting glimpse into the lavish palace/city that the last emperors of Vietnam built for themselves. A lot of the citadel was destroyed during the war and it is being slowly rebuilt/repaired.
We went back to the hotel and then various groups headed out for dinner. I missed the timing on the gang I was going to join, so I wandered down into the 'old town' of Hue - just around the corner from our hotel - and had dinner in a restaurant on a street corner.
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| The other restaurants around the one I ate in |
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