Vietnam's train system is meant to be pretty up there - something that I don't doubt considering the calibre of their buses. However they can be quite pricey, so we decided to only catch the train on what is supposedly the most scenic part of Vietnamese train track: the three hour journey from Danang, a taxi ride away from Hoi An, to Hue. And wow, it really was scenic. The train curved around the mountainous landscape for the better part of an hour, looking down on untouched beaches that clung to the hillside without a soul in sight to ruin them. The only thing about the journey that was disconcerting was a fair few of the locals appearing to be laughing at/talking about me for much of journey, leaving me worried I'd offended them. They didn't seem to give off any hostile attitude though, so I assume they were giggling over my odd Western face.

My favourite part about Hue is the name Hue. It's pronounced 'Whey' so there was a lot of 'Waheeeeey' going on. It never got old. When we arrived ('Waheeeey!'), the weather was surprisingly hot with clear skies, completed with a gorgeous sunset across the ancient city, and hopes were high for a few days of sunny sightseeing.

Not so much. After an evening ride on a dragon boat along the river and a fairly early night, we woke to overcast skies. We took a couple of tuk tuk style transportation devices (for want of a better description) around the Citadel, where one person sits between the knees of the other whilst a surprisingly strong Vietnamese guy cycles you round. After the sights, the best of which being allowed to sit on a cannon for some fun photo opportunities, we grabbed some lunch as the heavens opened. And the rain did not stop falling. The Gods knew that the Brits were in town. So we did what all good British people do in the face of bad weather - drink through it.

And that essentially sums up our time in Hue: an old citadel, bad weather and too much alcohol. Helping our hangovers by eating the majority of the menu at this fantastic and dirt cheap restaurant across the road from our hotel (Steve ate there three times in a matter of six hours), we achieved the perfect combination of food satisfaction/coma and hangover sleepiness just in time for our overnight bus to Hanoi. The rumours of horrible weather in the North were preying on everybody's mind. Snow in the mountains of Sapa? Cancelled Halong Bay trips? Constant rain and freezing temperatures? Ah, easy, it's like going home.