Ab in die Kaiserstadt Hue

Today (24.01.18) we got up at 6:00 AM. We arranged with the hostel staff to have breakfast and pay at 7:00 AM, and then get a taxi to the train station at 7:15 AM. We sat downstairs at 6:37 AM, all dressed up and ready to go. The doors were locked and no staff member in sight. At 6:55 AM, the cleaning staff arrived and at exactly 7:00 AM, the person we needed also arrived. Phew, relief spread :D We quickly ate our food and headed to the train station. Of course, we ended up sitting at the station for another 15 minutes. We really need to get used to the Vietnamese pace of things. This time the train ride was luxurious for us. There were only soft seats and you wouldn't believe how relaxing the ride was. Put on headphones, close your eyes, and in no time we were in Hue. As soon as you leave the train stations here, a group of taxi drivers is waiting for you and you can't say 'No, thank you' fast enough :D We first looked for a hostel and then took a taxi to Amy's Hostel. It's nice here. Everyone is really friendly!

Then we rented our obligatory scooter and drove to an imperial tomb. It was very impressive how meticulously everything was crafted. The mosaic amazed us especially. We also noticed that everything is really symmetrical. What's on the left is also on the right. We counted the humps on all the stone dragons at the edge of the stairs, and there were always exactly 31. Fascinating. We need to look up the meaning of this symmetry. After that, we went to the former imperial citadel. It's huge and we definitely couldn't see everything. Various royal families used to live there and it was quite nice! It's definitely a place where you can relax. When you imagine that the emperors used to march through the gardens and the servants fanned them, you get a completely different feeling. Then we went back on the scooter through rush hour. By now, I've realized that I'm most relaxed when I just don't look :D We had dinner right next door at the Mandarin Restaurant. The owner is Mr. Cu. He is a well-known Vietnamese photographer and his pictures are just amazing. I had to buy two right away!

Now we might go to a bar soon, if we're in the mood :D Tomorrow morning, we will ride our scooters over the Hai Van Pass to Hoi An. Our luggage will be taken by a separate bus company. We're really excited. Everyone raves about it..