11th Feb 2010: Chugging on down to Hue, Vietnam

We had a notion that the train would be stuffy and hot but the experience was quite the opposite. Since we were both on the top bunk, this meant that the air con was blowing directly on us and as a result, it was absolutely freezing! However, this was much more preferable than the other extreme, that is, to be sweating buckets in our sleep, so when we woke up the next day I’m pretty sure we gave each other a high five for the great train journey.
It was a few hours still until we arrived in Hue, and since there were no seats in our cabin or carriage, Leon and I found some small plastic stools and perched by the hot water dispenser with some really old Vietnamese guy who was lovely and kept talking to us in French (Leon gets mistaken for a Frenchman all the time).
We arrived in Hue on schedule and first impressions were that we had arrived in the middle of nowhere. As soon as we left the station we negotiated two one-man tuk-tuk bicycles to take us down town to our hotel that we had pre-booked. As we went down the main road, we could see the citadel across the river which was Hue’s main attraction, and the only reason we were there really. We pulled up close enough to where we thought our hotel with and the cheeky tuk tuk guys tried to double the price of our ride, saying that we had gone much further than negotiated. This was completely untrue, so we did what honourable people would do and stood our ground! Finally we managed to convince them to take the money we agreed on and luckily they moved along!
We wandered around the main tourist area looking for our hotel which we eventually located. The owner was very friendly (always a plus) and we were so ready for a nap that we didn’t mind the four floor trek to get to our room. My how the Vietnamese love their tall, narrow buildings...
Blissful hot showers and a 3 hour power nap later (!) and we were ready for some food. Settling for the pizzeria round the corner, Leon and I ploughed into our very tasty pizzas and went across the road for a swift pint (which I believe cost the equivalent of one pound sterling) before heading back to the room for some mindless TV and an early night. The big Hue sightseeing trip could wait until tomorrow...