To get to Hue from Hanoi was a 14 hour overnight train ride, where I shared a room with a German couple, a Vietnamese lady and her dog which she allowed us to pet. I’ve shared hostel dorms with hundreds of other people by now as well as maybe a cat, but this dog was a lot preferable to a lot of people I’ve stayed in a room with.

After a coffee and some food I headed to the Imperial City. It was 36 degrees outside but I did manage to get around more or less the whole thing. As it was so hot, I lacked the brain power to be able to read and absorb the information displayed, though it was a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

Today, I went on a tour to see the Summer Gardens, Padoga and three tombs of historic emperors. My Asian history isn’t too great, it’s too hot to take in much information so had a nice day out and about, without knowing too much of the historic meaning.

I’m getting to the point now where I always “have to do something,” whether that be booking and getting to the transport, needing to download a map and a translator, make absolutely sure that I know how to get from A to B on travel days and even just out and about, knowing whether or not to trust taxi drivers and if so which ones, telling someone on the street that I don’t want to buy whatever shit they’re selling, the currency, exchange rate as not to get ripped off, getting to the other side of the road alive and in one piece, it feels like work and that’s where all my energy is going. I’m also going to play the female card, and say that being foreign, female and on my own pushes my guard up a lot more when it comes to trusting people.

I do want to go somewhere that’s familiar to me and I’m just wanting to go back to Europe for a bit. The week after next is my India trip which I’m excited for, and I’m so glad that I get to let someone else do all the work for planning that. In a few days time I’ll book a flight from India to Budapest and spend the time between that and the Egypt and Jordan trip in Eastern Europe, then I’ll decide where I go before heading off to New Zealand.