From Hanoi, we caught the overnight train to Hue(pronounced 'Hway')on the central coast of Vietnam. On 'soft sleeper' benches which were quite comfortable, it was a fairly pleasant journey. We shared our cabin with a nice Canadian couple. The guy was a hip-hop producer and had worked with a few of the names in Ben's record collection so they had a bit to chat about.
We awoke to some amazing scenery rolling past the train window. Lush rice paddy field after lush rice paddy field came into view, presided over by domineering mountain ranges. A devestating amount of tombs and gravestones peppered the hillsideas as a reminder of the country's tragic history.
Hue, the capital of Vietnam from 1802 to 1945, is a Unesco World Heritage site, consisting mainly of a crumbling citadel (a moated, walled city) built by an emperor back in 1804. The town works well as a big museum, with some interesting buildings, although a lot more lost to bombs from the Americans.
The downside is that its history attracts an awful lot of visitors and everyone that works there is desperate to cash in on it. You are harrassed at every turn and some people don't even pretend to be friendly to extract money from you. It's not threatening or anything - you never feel like anyone would rob you - just increasingly annoying.
We mistakenly took a 3 dollar boat ride down the Perfume River to see some emperors' tombs, and were subject to a series of aggressive selling tactics and scams the whole day. We probably should have seen it coming, as the trip was so cheap, but nevertheless it added to our growing dislike of organised tours.
