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Arrived in Hanoi this morning after a sleeper train from Hue. Much more comfy then expected and had a decent sleep. We arrived in about 6am this morning and we have 2 day rooms at a hotel to get prepared for our next 2 days.
We left Hoi An at 1pm and it was about a 4 hour drive to Hue. Tried to sleep most of it as haven't been sleeping the best at night due to a cough. On the drive we had to drive through a 6km tunnel under what they call Foggy Mountain. If it hadn't been too foggy, we would have driven over the mountain but conditions weren't safe.
Weather is getting cooler and drizzling rain. Everyone is worried they aren't going to have enough warm clothes but I should be good. Lots of the crew bought North Face jackets in Hoi An which were pretty cheap, they apparently get made here.
Arrived in Hue and just hung out in the hotel at the bar until we went out for dinner. Had Beef in a Bamboo Pipe which was quite tasty. Early night for me again but Toni and 2 of the guys went to some bar and ended up partying till about 3.30am. Unfortunatly you can smoke in restaurants and bars here and I knew the smoke would do me no good.
On Saturday we had a day of sightseeing. We had a boat trip down the Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda. Very grey and misty. We then visited Bunker Hill where the French and Americans had bunkers to try and protect the town. They were unsuccessful as the North managed to take control of Hue for about 3 weeks. The south then bombed the town and basically ruined it to take it back.
We visited a Royal Tomb. I was expecting a body in a building but it was like a mini city built by the empreror while he was alive, a bit like the egyptians really but above ground. We had lunch at a buddist nunnery before visiting the Imperial Citadel. Quite alot of it has been destroyed by the war but they are slowly rebuilding some of the buildings. Some are still intact and very beautiful.
Back to the hotel and I think most people had a snooze till dinner time, me included. Went to a french restaurant for dinner and again the food was amazing. Although the more upmarket restaurants we go to, the slower the service is. Much quicker to go to a noodle bar, dinner is out in about 5mins.
Yesterday was a day to wander around town. Visited the local markets and some local shops and really did just wander. Bought a few rice paper paintings (just small ones) and another shoulder bag. Had some noodle soup for lunch and then back to the hotel to get ready for our train trip. Our guide had arranged for pizza to be delivered to the train station for us to eat as he recommened we didn't eat the train food.
Well, the pizza was awful. Tasted like shortcrust pastry and was cold. The worst meal I've had in Vietnam. We jumped on the train when it arrived. 4 people to a compartment and much more room than I expected. Our carriage had our group plus another Intrepid group and about 4 locals. Good evening but we crashed about 10pm and actually slept rather well. Wake up call at 5.30am and here we are.
We are heading to Cuc Phong National Park today and doing a bit of a trek and then off to Halong Bay tomorrow where we will be spending New Years Eve on a boat. Should be good, hopefully not too cold. Happy New Years to all!!!
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