In Hue, off the bikes today. This is the capital city of Vietnam and a UNESCO world heritage site. It’s a relatively sophisticated and peaceful city. The most famous attraction is the Citadel, which was built beginning in 1805 to serve as the home of the Nguyen Dynasty emperors. We walked there from the hotel in highly humid 95+ degree heat. The palace is surrounded by a moat and then similar to those in medieval Europe, protected by an extremely thick brick wall. Inside, there are many acres of gardens and building remains that are in the process of being reincarnated; when completed, they will be extraordinary.

We were so honored to get a surprise audience with one of the royal family, who was very regal but also warm and approachable. He introduced us to 2 of his concubines.

Mid-afternoon we headed to the train station to catch a train that would transport us north about 400 miles. We boarded at 4PM for our 11 hour trip, planning to eat and snooze on the train before heading to a guest house for 5 hours of sleep. How bad could it be, we asked ourselves?





Do the words gross, grimy, smelly, dirty, bug ridden, hot, cramped, airless and skeevy conjure up any kind of picture? Steven named it “hell in a cell”. Rather than belabor the description and memory, suffice it to say that ox cart transport may have been more comfortable. It certainly would have smelled better. We had 3 minutes to disembark at 3:15AM, and arrived at our crash pad in Ninhbinh by about 4:00. Steven and I fought over who got to shower first.

Granted a late start the next morning (9:30), we cycled through Tam Coc and some of the most glorious country I’ve ever seen. Soaring limestone cliffs bordered fish farms and rice paddies. The sky was crystal clear, the sun brutal (as usual), but we were graced with occasional breezes that enhanced our experience of this remarkable beauty. We stopped at the ancient city of Hoa Lu, famous for being one of Vietnam’s ancient capitals. There isn’t much here in the way of ruins, but the capitalist (!) tourism industry is building a major attraction that is sure to be a favored destination of future visitors to Vietnam.

We covered a lot of ground today, biking through enchanted villages that almost seemed medieval in the use of stone and the narrow alleys connecting homes. It was a spectacular ride.