After a fabulous 2 week extended stay in the beautiful Little Oasis Hotel, it was time to say goodbye to the wonderful staff. Salome and her team made our stay so very special, making it hard to leave a place where we’ve stayed longest, since leaving Manly back in January.

The hotel provided a free drop off at Da Nang train station, meaning a return to the city and the Dragon bridge we walked across a few weeks ago.

Being back in travel mode was an odd sensation and one that will take a little bit of getting used to again. Using public transport, like the Vietnamese train up to Hue involves waiting around, being patient and accepting of delays, even changes of plan.

Thankfully our train to Hue was only 30mins behind schedule. Ater boarding our first class sleeper for the journey, we were soon joined in our cabin by two young South Koreans. They had reserved the two top bunks and very quickly they were snoozing, whilst we stared out of the window watching Da Nang fade into the distance.

Being back on a sleeper train brought memories of our overnighter from Bangkok to Chiangmai back in early May.

The route from Da Nang to Hue takes around 3 hrs passing through the famous Hai Van Pass, a mountain climb which the train in part cut through via the Hai Van Tunnel. Outside of the tunnel the views were spectacular as we passed along coastal beaches with the sea sitting below us.

The train line zig zagged its way up the hillside, and at times we could see the front of the train as it curved its way along the tracks.

We had been recommended to take the train by Salome at The Little Oasis Hotel who explained that it had been voted one of the most impressive train journeys in SE Asia as a result of the coastal views.

As we reached the summit of the climb and started to descend we passed Lang Co Bay, a beautiful setting with white sandy beaches wrapped around the heads making it one of the most admired beaches in Vietnam.

At points along the route, the road and train lines take turns overlapping each other, with the road being bridged over the tracks in certain sections.

The journey enabled us to admire the natural scenery from the mountains to the fields of Hue countryside.

Once we were over the pass we returned to the flat Hue countryside and then on to Cau Hai Lagoon where oyster fishing is prevalent.

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Andy managed to get a short video of the route so you can appreciate how tight the tracks are to the land and sea below.

We were soon on the approach into Hue, and we took up our positions on the train as a large number of passengers were departing like us.

It’s not the most dignified of exits, as the train had overshot the platform. We had to climb over rubble, and puddles from the rain the night, before to get to the station and were able to hail a Grab to our hotel on the outskirts of Hue.

We are staying in La Vela Hue, a recently opened high rise hotel with views out back to the city. It’s very spacious and well priced but lacks a little ‘soul’ and at dinner in the evening proved to be quite quiet. It turns out the hotel has been built in readiness for a large Japanese shopping centre opening close by, which is still a few months away from being completed. So as a result we had the hotel restaurant to ourselves!

By the time we unpacked in our hotel room, it was already nearly 7pm, so we opted for a hotel meal, with the intention to head out the other two nights we are in Hue. It’s a place with a reputation for good street food is we are keen to see what’s on offer.

Tonight we played safe, with a chicken & rice dish for Michelle and a curried chicken for Andy, with an obligatory portion of French Fries to share.

The food was pretty good and was just what we needed. Hopefully it will set us up for our planned tour of the Hue Citadel and Dong Ba market tomorrow.