We woke at 6.30am, still with 4hrs to go on our overnight train journey from Hanoi to Hue.

Despite a couple of beers & some peanut flavoured whiskey sleep didn’t come easy to either of us and we spent the first hours of light watching the countryside pass by.

As we neared Hue, we went along the train in search of a warm drink and eventually came across the ‘buffet car’, which was slightly makeshift but made the best strong black Vietnamese coffee.

After arriving too early to check into our hotel in Hue, we dropped off our bags and made our way to a nearby restaurant for an early lunch.

We decided to try a local delicacy, a chicken hotpot with veggies and noodles, which proved to be a great success, being both tasty and v filling.

From there we went to a coffee shop which served a local specialty, salted coffee, an unusual combination but a great one. Like the egg coffee in Hanoi it was very sweet and like a dessert in a glass.

After filling up with food and coffee, we made our way to Dong Ba Market to check out the produce and marvelled at the range of fruit, veg and meats on offer – our guide advised us that people visit every day, hence the fresh food always on offer.

In late afternoon, we went for a tour of the imperial citadel, a sprawling city within a city which contains the remains of temples, state houses and the emperors palace.

Much of the citadel was damaged during WWII when the Japanese were in occupation and bombed by the Allies. As a result some of the main buildings, including the original palace were destroyed.

Following grants from the government, the Vietnamese have been able to carefully rebuild a reproduction of the former palace, which recently opened and acts as a museum for royal artefacts.

After an enjoyable 3hrs meandering around the citadel grounds, we returned to the hotel for a quick shower and change before heading to dinner at a nearby homestay.

On arrival for our dinner, Andy was offered a taste of a local plant extract which can be chewed and helps to stain your teeth black (!!). It has a side effect that numbs your gums which Andy says was pleasant, although his resulting dark stained smile wasn’t quite so pleasant.

Dinner was a real triumph, with a fantastic 4 course meal made by the husband and wife team who introduced us to a range of new dishes, notably one involving boiled eggs where the embryo has developed and the resulting shell contains an object with hair and feathers, which was off putting for the majority of us. That said our hosts wolfed it done in a matter of a couple of mouthfuls.

Dinner finished around 10pm, so we retired to bed to prepare ourselves for tomorrow’s action packed motorbike tour of the city and lunch at a nunnery on the outskirts. Looking forward to it!