Tuesday - 23 April - HUE

Well here we are, we have arrived in Hue.  We had a long journey on our overnight train from Ninh Binh.   We had booked a deluxe cabin on the train and when the train finally arrived at Ninh Binh (1/2 hour late) and we got on, realised there is no such thing as deluxe on any transport in Vietnam.  We were in carriage 8 at the back of the train and had to walk all the way to the front of the train just to buy a couple of bottles of water which cost double the amount you buy in a shop in Ha Noi.  The trains aren't the cleanest and I am sure our doona's (if that's what they call them) hadn't been replaced and smelt sweaty, we booked a soft bed and I would hate to see or sleep on the hard beds because our beds were like sleeping on concrete.  The trip wasn't too bad for 12 hours.  We slept for probably 8 of that and arrived in Hue at 10.30am.  The train station was packed with cab drivers trying to score a fare and they are in your face from the minute you get off the train, no time to breath.  We got a taxi to hotel and the whole time the taxi driver was trying to sell us tours, we took his card and he left us alone after that.  Arrived at our hotel 15 minutes later and its quite a nice place, probably 2-3 star but sufficient for the 2 days we are here.  They gave us our room key as soon as we got in the door and a glass of green tea and sat us down and were in our face trying to sell us tours.  After 12 hours on a train all we wanted was a shower, clean clothes, a coffee and nanny nap.  We are on the top level of the hotel with good views of the city and glimpses of the Perfume River, nice balcony with little garden.  Two beds, one for Rick and one for me. Nice! 

We went for a quick stroll to find a latte and some lunch, latte was impossible to find and lunch we had just around the corner at a bar and restaurant.  Nice lunch, I had bacon and cheeseburger with fries and Rick had a pizza.  The hawker or touts along the streets during the day can be a bit of a pain in the arse especially when you are trying to eat your lunch and they are in your face.  We have learnt to be very direct with them otherwise they just won't leave you alone.

Back to the hotel for a shower, clean clothes and nanny nap, a couple of hours sleep and was awake at 4.30pm and ready to explore the streets, had to hang off for a while as we had a storm and it was raining.  Dinner time and off we went for a stroll searching out a good restaurant, walked to the Perfume River and found a really nice small restaurant/café (no latte's) but really good food, Vietnamese fried shrimp spring rolls and shrimp and vegetable fried noodle, tasty as.  Walked to the bridge of the perfume river to have a look and it is beautiful at night.  Walked back to the hotel along the main drag and stopped to get our supplies of water, milk, choc biscuits, nuts to munch on tonight.

We love Hue already, its vibrant, clean and a huge city, (heaps of clothes shops) looking forward to going exploring tomorrow, foot massage first as our feet are killing us.  Its a shame we haven't got more time as we would love to stay here a few extra days.

Back to the hotel to veg and rest ready for our explorations tomorrow.  Have added just a couple of photos on blog.  Enjoy

Our 'Deluxe" cabin on train (not!)

Rick in bed on train

Our room in the hotel in Hue - Ideal Hotel

The door out to our balcony

Love the little garden on the balcony

Sweet!

Local women selling their fruit walking the streets

Perfume River at night, not a very good photo