Scary.
Impressive.
Great trees.
Lovely
Our train. Luxury.
The day started with some sadness, or rather anxiety. We are planning on a train journey back to Hanoi, some 550km. The bikes have to go on a separate train, or at least in the guards carriage. We have to trust the Vietnam Railway. Hmmm. Not sure this is a wise / good idea, but most people say it should be no problem. Admittedly, these are usually Vietnam Railway employees, and they don’t actually speak english other than to say ‘No problem’. We will see.
Back to the hotel for breakfast and pack up. We left the trip around the Imperial Citadel for today, although neither of us have much energy for another old building, especially as it’s not that old. 1820’s at the earliest.
Having arrived there it was interesting. The Emperor was treated as god. The whole building complex, which is huge, was devoted to his pleasure. Housing for 104 wives, more concubines, eunuchs and officials. A grand place, but we kept comparing with Angkor Wat, even though we really tried not to. Angkor was over 1,000 years older and seemed to have more magic about it. Glad we saw it, as it represented the most powerful dynasty in Vietnam from around 1820 to 1945. Doesn’t surprise us that there was a revolution.
Nice lunch, and Paul decided it was too hot and had a haircut. Always interesting having haircuts in different countries. This one was 40mins, of which 25 mins was a head massage. Great fun, although the results are, um, a bit Vietnamese. They will grow out.
Supper was lovely but the food took for ever to arrive. A bit stressful as we needed to buy important food for the train journey. A bottle of wine.
Boarded the train, found our sleeper carriage, and better than expected. Clean, comfortable, a bit slow, but all good. We hope our bikes are being treated as well.
Met Arthuro, Mexican travelling around on his bike for a year. Jealous, although $20/ day might be a bit little for us. Finished the wine, sleep and hope tomorrow is kind to our bikes.
Paul and Linda Cycle 