Overnight train from Hanoi to Hue – very dirty and a long night. We all buy silk sleeping bags so our clothes and bodies are protected from the sleeper bedding. Locals try to take over the sleepers without paying. We have to evict 4 huge shopping bags from our carriage to fit our luggage in. The woman ends up sleeping on top of bags inside a closet.

The local passengers have only a plastic stool to sit on in the corridor – some just stretch out and sleep in the corridor. An experience we hope not to repeat.
Once in Hue, it is the first cold and rainy day. We visit the citadel surrounded by a brick wall and moat.

We see the Forbidden Purple City – similar to that in Beijing in size and layout, but many of the buildings and treasures have been destroyed by wars.  The Royal family are in exile as Vietnam is currently a Communist country.

We enjoy a delicious vegetarian meal prepared by Buddhist monks before seeing the emperor’s tomb.