The Train to Hue

We left Ninh Binh early in the morning.

A twelve-hour train carried us to Hue, where we planned to stay for three weeks. After comfortable bus shuttles and online pictures of “sleeper buses,” we expected a modern and pleasant train ride, especially on the Unification Express. It was not.

Thankfully it was winter, so air conditioning was not needed, because we would not have enjoyed this train ride in the heat of summer.

We had a four-berth sleeper compartment entirely to ourselves, which made the journey more comfortable, and some of the views along the way were memorable—but it was still long and tiring. Looking back, we would have chosen to fly instead. Nonetheless, the train delivered us to Hue safe and sound.

Arrival to the Courtyard

We arrived in Hue tired after the long journey and took a Grab from the train station to an address tucked away off the main road, where we waited for our hosts.

After some time our hosts arrived on a motorbike. But instead of going into that passageway, they led us to a different one next to it. It was the first sign that the arrival was not going to be straightforward.

We followed our hosts through the narrow alley into a wide courtyard with a pond in the middle, glistening faintly in the darkness. As we dodged piles of dog waste on the pavement and navigated around garbage, our spirits lowered with every step. Loud music from a restaurant facing the same courtyard did nothing to improve our mood, especially when we realized that it was right next to where we were staying.

The house itself was long and narrow, with one end facing the pond and the other backing into our host’s home. The kitchen was an outdoor structure added at the rear, with a gap above the back wall. The small bathroom was “wet” style, without any partition, so when you shower the whole room gets soaked.

We were tired and did not take it all in before our hosts left.

First Night

Initially, we were relieved that we could not actually hear the restaurant music from inside the house. But the relief was short-lived. Instead, we heard a loud scraping noise, like somebody dragging heavy furniture across the floor above our heads. It continued until almost 10 p.m.

We sat there looking at each other and thinking: “What did we get ourselves into?” I even opened Booking.com and started searching for a different accommodation, but in the end we decided to sleep on it.

Morning Reversal

In the morning we realized that we had slept surprisingly well.

After the furniture dragging stopped at 10 p.m., the house became very quiet, as it did not face the street. I stepped out into a small patio in front and saw our surroundings in daylight for the first time. The morning sun was shining, and a blue sky with fluffy clouds reflected in the still water of the pond.

It did not look nearly as bad in daylight as it had the night before.

Neighbors were already going about their business around the pond, and the courtyard felt like a small village inside the city. A man was washing a pile of dishes in the pond. Two women were exercising by the water’s edge. Teenagers were fishing, and children were noisily running around.

The place was full of life and, aside from the occasional motorbike, quite peaceful.

So we decided to stay and see what happens.

Settling In Hue

We were sure that our mood would improve further after breakfast, so off we went in search of food.

The first Google recommendation was a bust — the place only served soups with meat and noodles. We had more luck with the next place, a small café inside a homestay, where they cooked us an omelet with vegetables.

On the way back to the apartment, we passed two more ponds. It felt like the old part of Hue was full of them.

After quite a busy week in Ninh Binh, we needed some time to decompress and move from vacation into normal life mode. So the first few days in Hue were spent settling in and taking care of the basics: doing laundry, going to a bank to withdraw more cash, finding a supermarket, and stocking up on essentials.

Unfortunately, we still struggled to find places where we could eat without rice or noodles, so home cooking remained the main option.

The Catfish Episode

Our first market visit in Hue quickly turned into an adventure.

We bought a catfish.

Usually, when fish is sold at the market, the seller will clean and cut it for you. Not this time. When we asked the lady selling the catfish to cut it, she started shaking her head and waving her hands — “no cutting.”

The price was very good, so Valery said he would cut it at home. I suspect he regretted this decision soon after.

The catfish was in a bowl with a lid and no water and was still moving around, trying to get out. The seller put it into a plastic bag for us, and Valery stuffed it into his backpack. On the way back, he could feel the fish kicking against him through the bag.

Half an hour later, after we arrived home, the catfish was still very much alive.

When it was placed on the kitchen table, it tried to jump off it.

What followed was a battle as Valery wrestled with the fish, and at some point I was not entirely sure who was winning. But in the end, he prevailed, and we had braised catfish dinners for several days.

Finding a Place to Eat

Hue is known as one of the primary food destinations in Vietnam, so we made an extra effort to find good places to eat while still conforming to our dietary restrictions, but it wasn’t easy. A few places worked well for a single visit, but low-carb menu options were very limited if we wanted to return regularly.

We were almost ready to give up when I asked our host if she could recommend somewhere nearby for grilled fish or chicken. She suggested a small, casual local restaurant just a couple of blocks from our house.

We went there for dinner without high expectations, but something immediately changed.

They were able to adapt meals to our low-carb request by replacing rice and noodles with vegetables. Even better, the menu itself was far more varied than anything we had found so far.

Our first meal there was a large fresh salad — duck for me, squid for Valery — and it was genuinely good.

After that, we started going back regularly: sometimes for lunch, sometimes for dinner.

The menu was extensive: fish, seafood, eel, duck, chicken, beef, pork, frogs — prepared in different ways such as steamed, grilled, fried, or braised in clay pots.

We quickly became familiar faces in this restaurant and were often greeted warmly as we passed by. After a few days, we no longer even had to ask to replace noodles with vegetables — the owner started doing it automatically.

After the initial struggle, it felt like we had finally found a place that worked for us.

Settling into Daily Life in Hue

We slowly settled into a routine similar to the one we had in Hanoi.

After breakfast, Valery worked on his project while I walked to a small neighborhood market I had discovered less than ten minutes from our house.

Nobody spoke English, but my few words in Vietnamese and Google Translate were enough. Within about a week, sellers were waving and smiling at me from across the market. I was likely the only foreigner shopping there and, quite possibly, had become part of their daily entertainment.

Small Moments Around the Courtyard

As the days passed, we also started noticing more life in the neighborhood.

One day, as we were leaving through one of the narrow alleys, we saw locals setting up tables and chairs directly in the passageway. They greeted us and, when we asked what was happening, explained that they were preparing an anniversary celebration for their parents.

Another morning, as we walked along the pond, something felt strangely different. After a few moments, I realized what it was: all the garbage around the path was gone.

Apparently, there had been a large neighborhood cleanup that we completely missed, though we certainly appreciated the results.

Over time, the place that had felt confusing at first no longer required much thought. It had become familiar in a quiet, practical way.

From there, we began looking farther out into the city.