Vietnam - Hue

We made it to Hue this morning. The train was great. It's such a huge contrast from Japan. We were in an old train that travels as slow if not slower then the local trains in Japan. We were in a 4 bunk cabin. A really, really, really nice older Vietnamese couple shared our cabin with us. They were so kind and tried really hard to communicate with us. They could speak Russian and French fluently but English was more difficult. We enjoyed spending time with them. We slept well. It took 15 hours from Hanoi to Hue. We were given a breakfast of Vietnamese cup of noodles and coffee. It was fun looking out the train window and seeing the country side. It reminded Julian of Kyushu but with the French colonial style buildings. It's a beautiful country.
We arrived at noon and took a cyclo to our hotel. This city has about 280,000 people, so it's not as busy. It's the perfect size. It has tree lined boulevards and the same French colonial style that is everywhere in Vietnam.

A propaganda bill board we saw on our way to our hotel

We got lunch and then we rented bikes. We biked to the old citadel which is from the early 1900s. It was really interesting and huge. We walked around for a couple of hours and looked at the Kings buildings and various courtyards.



We will take it easy tonight. We've been on a boat and a train the past couple of nights...happy to be on steady land. We will bike around some more tomorrow and then head to Hoi An in the afternoon.