Day 6 - Hue - Christmas Day

We left Hanoi on the overnight train at about 11pm. We were travelling effectively first class but the sleeping cabin resembled something out of the 30s or maybe 50s. Still we did get some sleep and we did arrive at Hue in the morning.

We visited the ancient citadel, home of the kings of Vietnam when Hue was the capital of the country. You get an idea how vast and beautiful this place was but most of it has been destroyed or fallen into ruin. There is a restoration project under way with the aim of having the site fully operational by 2020.








For our Xmas meal we went to a "royal banquet". Marianne & I were nominated king and queen and the rest of the tour group were our subjects. Everyone got dressed up and we had our own table with thrones to sit on while we ate. There was also a traditional Vietnamese music band who played really good traditional music as well interesting renditions of Christmas carols, "click go the shears" and the theme from "the godfather". What the....? It was a fun evening, a very different way to spend Christmas.





Busy day lined up for tomorrow.