All aboard the Night Train (and Hue)

Waited for the train on the wrong platform with some rather barky dogs. Train pulled in to the station, the guards kindly opened the other doors and we ran across the tracks and climbed aboard. Found our room which we had to share with two miserable french girls. Decided to hit the bar and had a chat and a drink with some locals and some monks. No other westerners made it to the bar which was kind of nice.
Slept pretty well despite having an 'I've lost my wallet' panic attack at about five a.m. I'd locked it in my bag. Watched the countryside go by from our room and reached Hue bang on time and jumped off the train into the blistering heat.

The night train was a great experience, one which we'll hopefully get to do in Thailand later into our trip. Bit pricy but so much nicer than the buses.

Arrived into Hue and walked the kilometre into town. Found a nice
little guesthouse and got showered. Guesthouse had breakfast included
but it was very mediocre. Went walking and had a decent curry for lunch. We were low on dong so went to an ATM but they would only give a maximum of a million dong which is about £30. Managed to find one that gave five million eventually though. Bought some fake Ray Bans for next to nowt. On the second day we hired bicycles and rode around the citadel all day. Huge place. The inner citadel had an entrance fee but the rest was just a big walled city with normal life going on really. We rode into the ancient citadel the back way and soon got told no bikes were allowed so we had to walk them out to a parking place before entering.

The inner citadel was impressive. There is a part called the forbidden purple palace where eunuchs used to live. The whole place is being restored but this didn't interfere with the sightseeing as it was all painting by hand. Claire bought a Buddha necklace set in jade from the gift shop.

Rode bikes back over a big busy bridge which was fairly scary. Went for dinner at DMZ bar. Food was ok but service was woeful and Claire's bloody mary was bloody awful.

Booked bus to Hoi An, had a walk by the pretty river and watched the bridge light up like a big rainbow. Bought a bottle of Vodka Hanoi which according to the woman selling it gives no hangover. She was spot on. Chilled on our balcony with the booze and watched the world go by.

Woke up to rain and noticed that our street was now more a river. Bus arrived and we waded on to it and off we went.

I liked Hue. There wasn't a great deal to do but the citadel was more than enough really. Overall a decent place to spend a couple of nights.

Next up,Hoi An and the tailored clothing.