Hue
Arriving back into Hanoi was not so much fun, but the knowledge that we will shortly be getting on an overnight train to take us south to Hue was reassuring. By the time we bought our tickets the soft sleepers had all been sold out, so we got two hard sleeper bunks on the 11pm. Finding our cramped compartment, we shoved our large backpacks below the bottom bunk and then buried our valuables in the small bags kept just by our heads. There was already a middle-aged lady pretending to sleep on the other lower bunk. She opened one eye and then proceeded to turn her back to us, so there would be no communication that night.
Our compartment had 6 bunks (actually 6 hard shelves hanging off the sides by large chains). They were rather dirty like most of the cabin; however the thin bedding seemed ok, but I sort of wished for my silk liner which was buried deep in my large rucksack. We got our potato and corn snacks out and prepared to watch a film huddled in our lower bunk. As we were watching our film - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, which was incidentally brilliant - I had a bit of a shock as a small cockroach clambered on top of the lady's large open bag and crawled in. I withdrew my legs off the floor and had a little hysteria whilst checking that all our bags were completely shut and locked. The next 10 hours would be very, very long. After our film, I offered Mark the more expensive bottom bunk and clambered to higher ground whilst tucking myself into a tight and impenetrable cocoon.
The next morning I woke up to the stunning view of rice paddies. Our not so considerate companion was loudly speaking to a young guy on the next bunk up. I don't know what she was saying but it seemed the conversation was very one-sided and it seemed fairly deliberate to wake us up. I think he was slightly embarrassed by her rudeness as well. Luckily we arrived at Hue shortly after. Our backpackers had sent one of their receptionists out to meet us and he was holding a placard with 'Mark Fullbrook' written on it. What a treat, we did not have to negotiate our way around yet another city with our backpacks on our backs.
That afternoon we checked out the beautiful citadel within the old city and had a bit of a walk along the perfume river decorated with many dragon boats touting for business. The imperial citadel was impressive. Built by the Nguyen dynasty in the early 19th century it is where vietnam was ruled from until 1945. Unfortunately many of the temples, pavilions and gates have been damaged during the war, but restoration was slowly taking place as we walked around the serene complex.
