You can get a visa for Cambodia at most border crossings from Vietnam. With the operative word being “most” we decided to get ours at the Cambodian embassy in Hanoi. What is normally a 2-day process was expedited to 10 minutes for a few dollars. Now we are set no matter which border we choose. We spent the rest of the day around the lobby of our hotel waiting for our 11pm train watching movies. We went back to Kiti for dinner and gave our favorite waitress a Colorado columbine pin. She reacted as if it were a diamond. It is a good restaurant and the people are wonderful. Give it a try if you are in Hanoi; 38 Hang Hom.
The Reunification Express runs from Ho Chi Minh City from Hanoi, 30 hours at about 50kph. It is supposedly one of the most scenic rail trips in Vietnam. Even though most of our 12 hour trip to Hue was at night we were able to see some of the beautiful scenery this morning. Our soft sleeper cabin cost $40 each and our cabin mates were a couple of young Vietnamese guys. Our only complaint was their breakfast of smelly boiled chicken.
Hue has the feel of a small town compared to Hanoi's 3.5 million. We are staying at Phong Nha Hotel on an alley just a few blocks from the Perfume River. The $18 room is clean and spacious with a nice bathroom, satellite TV, wifi and air-con. The CNN weather report predicts another major storm headed for central and northern Vietnam so we got cracking on our sightseeing. Hue was the imperial capital of Vietnam from 1802 until 1946 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is famous for the imperial tombs along the Perfume River and the impressive Citadel, home of the emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty. We took the mile walk across the river from our hotel and explored the Citadel. Later we will take a boat tour of the river and visit the tombs. And we booked a private car to take us to Bach Ma National Park tomorrow, hoping to beat the bad weather and a repeat of our Cuc Phoung fiasco.
