We went to bed with two local women and a man in a marathon 12-hour session.
The Saigon Express sleeper train rolled into Ninh Binh Railway station at just gone 8.30am and we went straight to Carriage Six, where our allotted bunks were 17 and 19.
Much to our relief, unlike our previous sleeper coach, the bunks were big enough to fit us.
And as the train departed with a smooth as silk getaway we sorted out our rucksacks and nestled into our cribs for the long haul journey, taking us 357 miles south. (55 pounds ticket for two)
At first we shared our cabin with an old man and a young woman. After they got off at seperate stops a middle-aged lady with lots of shopping replaced them.
Though she gabbled through two Facetime calls, other than that she was good as gold.
We took some video of the scenery, went to sleep, took some video, went to sleep, in harmony with the hypnotic rhythm of the steel wheels pounding the track.
It was a long trip, we couldn’t get hold of any wifi and the only screen to gawp at was the ever-changing view of hamlets and workers in the fields swishing by.
Finally, after freshening up in a newly cleaned toilet, we pulled into Hue and agreed on a price to take us to our booked hotel.
Moments later, much to our delight we arrived at the imposing Century Riverside Hotel which we initially thought was too grand for our place. But joy, it was, and the first thing the guy at reception did was upgrade us to a river view which was most welcome.
After showers we hit the bustling street opposite for a few beers and simple rice dishes at a buzzing local bar.
The nice thing was that, unlike the north, the temperature was noticeably warmer and much more like the South East Asia we had come dressed for.
After a nice breakfast we hopped on a Hue City Tour bus and took in a couple of sights in the 32C sun.
The Imperial Citadel
The first was the Hue Imperial Citadel. Built between 1804 and 1833, the heavily-fortified citadel has two-metre thick walls 10km long, a moat and 10 gateways.
You need time to explore all the sections, which include a forbidden city and temple compounds and photo opportunities galore amid the tourists.
Useful info
1. Opening/closing times at attractions:
+ Time March 16 – October 15: from 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
+ October 16 – March 15 (next year): from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Cost 200,000vnd per person
You can buy multi attraction tickets that save you money. We didn’t realise this until after the fact
Tu Doc Tomb
We also took a look at lovely Tu Duc Tomb, which was built from 1864 to 1867 for Nguyen Emperor Tu Doc. He had 104 wives and concubines but was unable to father a son (possibly he became sterile after contracting smallpox).
We wondered how much of this history was appreciated by the bunch of smiley Vietnamese kids who wandered around the place with us. They were charging around, loving life, and gave us the friendliest welcome in the world.
Useful info
Open from 7 am to 5:30 pm every day.
Cost 150,000vnd per person
In the afternoon, visitors should come here earlier than 4:30 pm to have enough time for sightseeing. We recommend about 1,5 to 2 hours to leisurely walk around it..
Tour guide service is available in Tu Duc tomb, costing 100,000 VND.