We got a sleeper cabin in an overnight train from Ninh Binh to Huế on Vietnam Railways Reunification Train (SE23). Luckily we were able to book a four bunk cabin with friends from Australia so we were not stuck with two random people.
Vietnam Railways Reunification Trains run from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), and vice versa, several times a day. Our southbound train left Ninh Binh at 10:38 PM arriving in Huế at 9:58 AM the next morning after making several stops.
We were in a soft berth sleeper cabin , meaning the beds are just barely softer than a concrete slab. A small pillow and blanket were provided. The blanket is almost worthless against the blast of freezing cold air coming from the vent in the ceiling. Unfortunately we had no way to slow or stop the cold air. We slept under the blankets in our clothes.
Stephanie is the only one among our group of four who likes to sleep in arctic conditions, so she was happy. At least the rest of us got enough fitful sleep to be functional the next day.
There were seven cabins in our train car. I swear alarms went off in at least five of the cabins at 6:00 AM. Our train car went from quiet (at least as quiet as a rolling train can be) and peaceful to a full blown ruckus in seconds flat. Apparently a large group was exiting at the 6:38 AM stop. They made sure everyone was awake. From loudly yelling in the hallway to radios blasting pop music, everyone was awake. Everyone.
The 6:38 AM stop was a long one. About this time cart service (drinks, snacks) came around. We brought drinks and snacks from Ninh Binh. Other than maybe a coffee I’m not sure there was anything for sale that we would have purchased.
In Huế , two things jumped out as us right away. First, sunny weather in the mid 70° F range (about 24° C). After weeks of cool, overcast weather, we were pretty happy.
Second, Huda beer. A regional beer in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, this was a new one for us. It seems to be the only beer advertised in Huế, and it gets a lot of advertising. Huda beer signs are everywhere. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the name of the city is actually Huda. And it’s the best beer we’ve had to date in Vietnam, much better than any of the beers we had in Hanoi.
Huế is off to a fantastic start.
Coming from Hanoi, the sidewalk situation is much better. Sure, the sidewalks are mostly used to park scooters, but the vendors do not spread their wares over every other square inch of space and the restaurants aren’t quite so obstructive. Being able to walk on sidewalks a decent amount of time felt pretty good.
And the river walk along the Perfume River (on both sides) is fantastic.
What surprised us the most was how friendly the locals are in Huế, particularly in our neighborhood (the Kim Long District). Quite a few locals said hello to us, especially kids but also adults, before Stephanie could say hello to them first. We also got more than our fair share of people staring at us. I’m not sure that our neighborhood gets a lot of western tourists.
Huế’s major tourist attractions include several tombs of past emperors. Think large parks and temples around tombs, not just tombs. One of the locals in our neighborhood told us that the tombs were number one to visit. At least we think that is what he said. It was a good omen, so we went to the tombs the next day.
The closest tomb, and one of the most significant, is the Mausoleum of Emperor Tu Duc (Lăng Tự Đức), the fourth and final emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty prior to colonization by the French in the late 1800s. We arrived at 10:30 AM, a bit later than we hoped. Luckily it was not too crowded. Maybe a half dozen tour groups and other assorted tourists (quite a few trying to set up Instagram photos) were already there.
The grounds were much larger than we expected. It took us well over an hour to walk around at a leisurely pace. Afterwards we stopped across the street at one of the numerous restaurants to get a cold drink.
As an aside, make sure to ask for and confirm the prices of everything in advance. The lady running the restaurant directly across the street from the entrance told us that drinks were 20,000 ₫ each. When the bill came a short time later, she tried to charge us 30,000 ₫ each. After we called her out, she just laughed and happily took 20,000 ₫ per drink with no complaints.
Stephanie wrote this up in her Google review of the place.
At the ticket booth, we had the option to pay 150,000 ₫ per ticket (about $6) or buy a combination ticket including one or more other tombs and/or the Imperial City. We bought a combination ticket for 200,000 ₫ each to also visit the Mausoleum of Emperor Dong Khanh (Tư Lăng – Lăng mộ Đồng Khánh Đế) because it is conveniently located a 10 minute walk away.
Dong Khanh was the nephew of Tu Duc, the ninth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, and was favored by the French colonial government. We arrived at his mausoleum at about 1:00 PM. No one was there. No tour groups, no random tourists. Just us. We were there for about an hour and had a great time exploring. A couple of random tourists arrived during our visit, but no tour busses came.
Afterwards we walked back to the restaurants across the street from the Mausoleum of Tu Duc, sat in a different restaurant, and had another cold drink. By this time, about 2:30 PM, the Mausoleum of Tu Duc was in the process of being overrun by tour groups. Large busses were disgorging tours every few minutes.
While the Mausoleum of Tu Duc is larger, with a much nicer landscape including flowers, ponds, and bridges, we much preferred our time at the Mausoleum of Dong Khanh because of the serenity.
Garrett and Stephanie
If you have not already done so, read our other post about Huế:
Huế, Vietnam (February, 2025, Part II). The Imperial City.
For additional posts about Vietnam, or elsewhere in the world, check out our Travel Blog. It contains collected links to all of our travel posts.
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