| Quick facts | |
|---|---|
| Distance | 75km + train |
| Difficulty | Moderate |
| Terrain | Hilly then flat |
| Cost | Ð2-300,000 per person, Ð49,000 per bike |
| Blog | 26th Jan - My love/hate relationship with the Vietnamese |
| Gallery | Cuc Phuong NP to Hoi An |
The journey
This day started by riding back from Cuc Phuong national park. The ticket office in Ninh Binh didn't open till 4pm. The overnight train to Hue was Ð98,000 for two bikes (possibly including Ð6000 storage of the bike before they were loaded) plus an extra Ð10,000 for unloading the bikes. We were given airplane style dinner on the train again.Café Cathi is very strange - exorbitant drink prices (Ð30,000 for tea) but you also get biscuits, Vietnamese tea (even if you order regular tea), bread + jam, salad, crisps, a saucer of weird tea accessories and watermelon. We were the only ones there, unsurprisingly.
The tombs
It's worth taking a day or two off to explore citadel and tombs. Our ride to Tu Duc, Minh Mang and the perfume pagoda totalled 45km. The roads were good to the main tombs and muddy single tracks as soon as the tarmac ended. The road to Tu Duc and Dong Khanh was sealed, although along the river past the train station it was a bit rough. The road to Tu Duc was excellent and brand new; you can see incense makers at work. It ends very abruptly at Dong Khanh.
If you continue south along the river road from Tu Duc it becomes a rocky track; a woman tried to charge us Ð5000 to cross a bamboo bridge so we retraced our route. We doubled back from Tu Duc and went past Nam Giao (the temple of Heaven) then followed signs across the bridge to Minh Mang. The main entrance is along a road immediately left after the bridge, not at the café near a back entrance where the owner claimed the Minh Mang sign had just blown down.
From Minh Mang, go back to the bridge and take the SH1 towards Hanoi. After 6km there is a right turn to Hue through some small villages; it's rough in places but sealed. This takes you past the Perfume Pagoda which is free. However, bike parking was Ð1000 (after initially being asked Ð2000) and toilets cost Ð2000.
The room
A Dong hotel1 Chu Van An Street, Hue
Tel: 824148/ 849757
$8 for triple room, bathroom with hot water, TV (no cable), large shared terrace. Breakfast included for $10.
Room was clean and reasonably furnished but the sheets were slightly damp (the climate was very wet and foggy). Reception protested they were "cold not damp!" We hung them around the room to dry. They did clean the pig on my bike lock key-ring.