One of the best train trips in the world according to many train buffs is the one we took from Da Nang to Hue (pronounced Hway) over the Hai Van mountain pass. I had spent many hours reading reviews and comments posted on Trip Advisor about traveling between the 2 cities. The upshot was we needed to buy hard seats on the right hand side of the train as it traveled north so we would have the best views. Hard seats meant the cheap seats but that also meant we could open the windows and therefore take pictures!
That sounds easy enough, doesn't it? Well, it wasn't! When back in Sai Gon, we'd taken a taxi to the train station to buy the tickets only to find they couldn't specify the seats, so that was a bust. After a few attempts talking to a woman in Hoi An who had a combination gallery/money exchange AND travel agency and describing and drawing and pantomiming exactly what we wanted, we paid for the tickets. It wasn't til we got on the train that we discovered that after all that we had seats facing the wrong direction! Oh well, all's well that ends well, right? The morning SLOW train wasn't packed so we grabbed empty seats in another carriage.
Photos from Train trip from Da Nang to Hue:
The seats sure were hard but not really uncomfortable even for a three and a half hour journey.
We were just lucky that we had the four seats in the new carriage to ourselves for the entire trip as our 'real' seats were with 2 locals which would have meant a cramped trip for them and us!
Our train, the TN2, was going all the way north to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. You would never go hungry no matter how long you were on the train for because train staff and local vendors were always plying passengers with food and drink.
Ascending almost 600m high Hai Van Pass and seeing the waves crash against the rocky beaches below was fantastic. I had my eyes glued to the window and my camera hanging out of it for much of the trip!
The jungle was the only thing separating us from the coast far below.
Passed one sleepy station after another.
Jungle underbrush was so thick in spots that small branches hit the lower part of the windows.
There was no AC in the cheap seats - oops, I mean the hard seats - but there were some fans in the carriages.
Another way of enjoying train travel!
I never grew tired of seeing and hearing the waves below us.
Glad we weren't sitting any closer and had to smell his feet!
Stopped at this small town for about 30 minutes but we didn't see any passengers alight or disembark. Just noticed non stop vendors coming up to all the carriages that had the hard seats as they could pass food of every description up through the open windows.
We could only open the top portion of our windows - had a sense of what animals must feel like being in a cage!
Some of the items being sold included foul smelling fish - we were just thankful that no one onour carriage bought any of that!
This man was one of only a handful of beggars we've seen in almost 3 weeks in Vietnam.
Stopping here as long as we did made me wonder how many trains stop there a day and also whether the passing trains are the people's only source of income.
At last the train starts moving again and we continue our journey to Hue.
More photos from the train journey:
Had never seen a train passenger lie down on the floor and fall asleep before!
Another train stop but no platform for the woman to sell her homemade foods so she had to hand them up to the outstretched hands of people sitting in front of us. They then chose to or had to (not sure which) literally throw their money down on the ground for the woman to pick up. It all seemed so desperately dehumanizing.
After the really enjoyable train trip, we were welcomed at the busy Hue train station by a young woman from our hotel. Since it was only about 12:30 or so once we checked into the hotel, we got a decent map and a sense of the lay of the land and off we were again in rented bikes. Our destination this time was the Citadel and Imperial City, about a 20 minute ride away.
Photos en route to Hue's Citadel:
Crossing Trang Tien Bridge aka Lovers' Lane.
The Citadel is often used as a catchall term for Hue's Imperial City built by Emperor Gia Long beginning in 1804. It was built for the exclusive use of the emperor and his household much like Beijing's Forbidden City. The city actually encompasses 3 walled enclosures: the Exterior Enclosure or Citadel, with the Yellow Enclosure or Imperial City inside it. In the very center is the Forbidden Purple City where the emperor actually lived.
Photos of the Citadel:
Before we entered the massive 150 building complex at the Noon Gate, we noticed Flag Tower, above, the focal point of the Imperial City and which was built in 1807 during Gia Long's reign.
The Noon Gate was used for royal entrances and important proclamations such as the announcement of successful doctoral candidates. Most notably the announcement of the abdication of the last emperor, Bao Di on 8/13/45 to Ho Chi Minh took place here.
We parked our bikes in the shade right by these 'Nine Cannons.' Every time we've had to park our bikes here in Vietnam, there has been a nominal parking fee, something that was new to us but just illustrates how popular bike riding is here as is the need to make a few thousand dong.
Writing notes down for this post!
Ticket Control officers had to check our tickets just 3 feet after we had bought them - sounded like a 'make work' project to me.
Photos from the Forbidden Purple City:
Standing in the Forbidden Purple City courtyard we could just see a dab of purple paint on the roof of one of the buildings - not a lot of purple here in the former king's court where he lived with his concubines!
Visitors could only sit on the throne here in the early 19th C. Mandarin Building if you wear the rented royal clothes.
The flamboyantly colored costumes reminded me of so many episodes of one of my favorite TV shows 'The Amazing Race' where competing teams often dress up in strange and wonderful costumes before contests.
Bullet holes remaining from the Vietnam War, we thought.
Left the Forbidden City and on to see an exhibition of Imperial Records from the Nguyen Dynasty.
The Imperial Records.
The Queen Mother Tu Minh's Rickshaw was purchased at an auction in France in June of 2014 thanks in part to the support from Vietnamese people living in France. In case you were ever wondering, rickshaws first appeared in Japan in 1868!
Photos of Truong Pavilion:
The building was erected in 1849 and used as the 'Queen Mother's Pleasure pavilion'.
So much of the Citadel was destroyed either in a fire in 1947 or in the war but restoration is ongoing in the UNESCO listed complex.
Photos from Phuoc Tho Temple:
Shrines also functioned as a Buddhist temple here which dated from 1893.
There were pleasant views of the surrounding temples and shrines from atop Phuoc Tho Temple.
The Tinh Minh Building, below, is a wooden structure built in the 19th C. that was used as a medical clinic for an empress. It was later used as the last emperor's private residence.
More views as we wandered around The Citadel:
Photos of The Mieu Temple:
It was constructed in 1821 and its funeral altars paid tribute to 10 of the last Nguyen emperors.
The 9 Dynastic Urns in front of the Hien Lam Pavilion (and part of The Mieu Temple) were cast from 1835 to 1837 with each a memorial to a Nguyen emperor and meritorious Mandarin for their outstanding contribution to the dynasty.
The former Royal Treasury.
The Citadel's exit gate.
Steven and I were both tired by this point as we had gotten up pretty early to catch the train, had a half day train ride and then a few km bike ride to the Citadel. Now, we still needed to collect our bikes and then ride back to the hotel and find some dinner before crashing for the night.
Spending a few hours wandering around the Citadel in the afternoon and just as the sun set had been a lovely way to start our 3 day visit to Hue.
Posted on 10/25 from Hanoi, Vietnam.
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