Since we had a train to catch in Hue in the afternoon we left our homestay early in the morning. Our two drivers looking more or less sober after clearly having had a lot of rice wine last night. Apparently this is how things work in Vietnam.
We headed North on the road that is also known as the Ho Chi Minh trail and stopped at the memorial next to the road and had a bit of information about the trail and the war. Then we continued on the more or less deserted road, occasionally passing another motorbike or car but it was the exception. It was just us and our two drivers - and the beautiful mountains. We drove for a while before stopping at a waterfall next to the side of the road and even though it was early in the morning it was already hot so we soaked our feet in the cold water and enjoyed the view and tranquillity of the place. How wonderful on a Monday morning to be here.
We continued to drive for a couple of hours not really stopping - because there wasn't anything to stop at. No plantations, no flower garden, no small businesses - just mountain road and us. Eventually we made it to a small town, stopped for Vietnamese coffee before doing the last stretch of road to Hue, doing our lunch stop just before getting to Hue. The last 50 kilometres of road were also impressive going up and down mountain roads but with more traffic.
In Hue we were dropped off at the Imperial City and spent the next 1½ hours on our own walking around the area looking at buildings and the gardens in there. It was relatively quiet in the afternoon with a few visitors so it felt like having the place to ourselves. The combination of newly renovated buildings, ruins, patches of green areas and small gardens were really nice and we could easily have spent more time in there but we also had a night train to catch.
Our two drivers dropped us off at the train station, they left for the drive back to Hoi An and we sat at the station for the next two hours waiting for our train to arrive. We almost left on time, only some 10 minutes delayed and having stocked up on water and food we were ready for the next 13 hours of train ride to Hanoi.
The compartment was nice and clean, the A/C not too cold, we shared the four person compartment with a Vietnamese woman who didn't say too much, so for the first couple of hours we could enjoy the countryside as it passed by. Once the sun set and daylight disappeared we rested in our bunk beds that were also long enough to fully stretch. Not too bad given some of the less flattering descriptions we have read about the night trains in Vietnam. We were quite happy with the standard of the train. Looking forward to a good nights sleep.
We headed North on the road that is also known as the Ho Chi Minh trail and stopped at the memorial next to the road and had a bit of information about the trail and the war. Then we continued on the more or less deserted road, occasionally passing another motorbike or car but it was the exception. It was just us and our two drivers - and the beautiful mountains. We drove for a while before stopping at a waterfall next to the side of the road and even though it was early in the morning it was already hot so we soaked our feet in the cold water and enjoyed the view and tranquillity of the place. How wonderful on a Monday morning to be here.
We continued to drive for a couple of hours not really stopping - because there wasn't anything to stop at. No plantations, no flower garden, no small businesses - just mountain road and us. Eventually we made it to a small town, stopped for Vietnamese coffee before doing the last stretch of road to Hue, doing our lunch stop just before getting to Hue. The last 50 kilometres of road were also impressive going up and down mountain roads but with more traffic.
In Hue we were dropped off at the Imperial City and spent the next 1½ hours on our own walking around the area looking at buildings and the gardens in there. It was relatively quiet in the afternoon with a few visitors so it felt like having the place to ourselves. The combination of newly renovated buildings, ruins, patches of green areas and small gardens were really nice and we could easily have spent more time in there but we also had a night train to catch.
Our two drivers dropped us off at the train station, they left for the drive back to Hoi An and we sat at the station for the next two hours waiting for our train to arrive. We almost left on time, only some 10 minutes delayed and having stocked up on water and food we were ready for the next 13 hours of train ride to Hanoi.
The compartment was nice and clean, the A/C not too cold, we shared the four person compartment with a Vietnamese woman who didn't say too much, so for the first couple of hours we could enjoy the countryside as it passed by. Once the sun set and daylight disappeared we rested in our bunk beds that were also long enough to fully stretch. Not too bad given some of the less flattering descriptions we have read about the night trains in Vietnam. We were quite happy with the standard of the train. Looking forward to a good nights sleep.
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| Early morning, ready to go |
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| Photo stop at the Ho Chi Mihn Trail memorial |
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| Endless mountain roads |
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| Bike needing some air |
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| Biker selfie |
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| Cold feet in the waterfall |
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| Ready for coffee break |
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| More mountain road |
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| The Imperial Palace in Hue |
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| At the station in Hue |
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| Waiting |
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| Our train approaching |
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| That's our compartment |
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| Almost long enough |
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