Heading South to Hue

Friendly locals

I'm breaking many personal records on this trip and last night it was length of time on a train. We left Hanoi at 1900 hours sharp last night and arrived in Hue, the ancient former capital of Vietnam at 0835 this morning.
A total of 13 hours and 35 minutes but made all the more enjoyable by our 4 berth room companions. The couple from Paris were lovely company and it was sad to see them go at the station.

Train Ticket

Our French Friends on our sleeper train.

We jumped into a cab and headed to our hotel the Ngu Binh that is quite a distance from the centre of town.

Our first walk down the road was interesting especially a walk through a small market. We might just have stepped off another planet the looks we were getting. It was however very friendly as in about 20 minutes we must off said hello a hundred times as people waved and stared.

Here for two nights

Fish Market

We continued into town but the heat was blistering and we had to seek shade several times as the humidity made it very uncomfortable. We had another cycle taxi that dropped us miles from the hotel as he tried to squeeze us for another few dong.

Not much else to report except that although the sights, smells, colors are fascinating and I could snap a photo every 5 seconds its irritating that the Vietnamese people are all out to squeeze as much dong out of you as they can. Also although the hotel rooms are quite nice if a bit dated. They offer non of the things they promise when you book them. 

I  have to keep telling myself that this is a third world country and these people are poor by western standards. We are also struggling with the food. With Debs early stomach problems still fresh in the memory we are both a little reluctant to eat some of the stuff from the roadside stalls.

Tomorrow we are spending the day visiting the ancient Citidal