Nha Trang to Saigon

Ok, so it's not quite been a week since my last post but boy does it feel it!

Since my outpouring of love for Hoi An a few days ago we have clocked up over 1000km's through Vietnam and spent 23 hours crashing through towns on the Viet 'roads'.

My last post was full of fear at the prospect of a 12 hour night bus journey from the beautiful town of Hoi An down to it's bigger and noisier neighbor Nah Trang.

Although far preferable to the night train in the; 'how sodden my clothes were from sweat' category, the list of wins for the bus ends there.

The jerks and bumps of Vietnam's, at times, unimaginably bad roads did not lend itself to a sound nights sleep. Nor did the frequent stops at toll booths. I can only imagine the money each car forks out to risk their lives on these roads is spent on the booths themselves as they are far superior to any tarmac our bus drove on.

But don't think I'm feeling sorry for myself, we were the lucky ones. Nobody knows quite what happened to the American couple left at a service station midway through. Perhaps they decided it was less of a risk sleeping in the street than on the bus? Either way if you go to the lost and found in Nha trang claiming you left two backpacks on a bus, chances are you'll be in luck.

Despite my rant, the bus was both cheap and on time arriving in Nha Trang at 6 in the morning as promised.

This was a good opportunity to see Viet life as it really is. The whole town was alive.

The sun was up, people were of on a morning run along the coastlines. Streets packed and every shop open for business. It was like midday in a UK city.

Despite that burst of culture, Nha Trang could be anywhere in the world. A beautiful beach? Yes. Wall to wall sunshine? Yes. More tourists than locals? Sadly, yes.

For this reason, Nha Trang was relegated to the humiliation of being a 'stopover'. One night in a reasonably priced hostel and then it was off again. To Mui Ne.

We were both incredibly excited about Mui Ne. The travel books boasted of the 'best beach in Vietnam' and a 'hidden treasure'.

Unfortunately it wasn't the case.

That isn't to say Mui Ne isn't nice.

A golden beach stretches along the coastline for as long as 10 km's. Resorts and hotels pepper the beach while locals and tourists motor along the coastal road in the sunshine. It really is lovely place to be.

Add to that a good day out at the local sand dunes, where you can sled down the hills whilst feeling you were in the desert, Mui Ne is a winner.

The problem is the hype. After reading such good things only the best of the best would have met our expectations. Mui Ne was lovely, but not the best.

Finally, we find ourselves in Da Lat, following a 'life in your own hands' journey up the mountains of Central Vietnam.

Da Lat is as far removed from the rest of Vietnam as possible.

The town is surrounded by mountains draped in mist. A regular as clock work thunderstorm barges it's way over the hills everyday at around 3 o'clock, making the 20 degree heat, even cooler.

Vicky and I have even considered wearing trousers...

I know!

It has been a lovely place though and a nice change of pace to the rest of Vietnam.

Straight back in though, as tomorrow we have a 7 hour coach journey to the melting pot that is Saigon, before our flight to Phu Quoc island in the week.

To help pass the time on our bus trilogy, I took the liberty of writing down a few of the stand out musical moments during our journey.They will be this weeks 'I've been listening to'.

Thanks for reading. Until the next time....

Beatles - Here Comes the Sun
Coldplay - Fix You
Stereophonics - Have a Nice Day
Jacqui Wilson - Sweetest Feeling

Hanoi to Hoi An

4 weeks and 2 days in. We've left the mayhem and frantic lifestyle in Hanoi and travelled 1000 km south to Hoi An.

We'll explore the differences between the two later but first our journey to get here is a story worth telling.

Our initial route out of Hanoi was a 15 hour train ride from the capital to a small town called Hue on the east coast of Vietnam.

The train experience in Vietnam wasn't too bad. We had a 4 birth cabin which we shared with an older French couple, who were very friendly. The air conditioning was... unreliable to say the least, so sleeping was a challenge. One minute waking up freezing, the next with sweat pouring out of what seemed every part of my body.

Despite experiencing several different climates all in one train cabin, we arrived in Hue bang on time.

It was immediately obvious this was a town solely existing for tourism. Walking off the station we could have been excused for thinking we were Brad and Angelina, for the amount of people that wanted our attention. Sadly, it wasn't for autograph's. It was for our money.

We managed to worm our way through and jump in a taxi to our 7 pounds a night hostel, which was lovely. After our harassment at the station we decided Hue probably wasn't for us and so we used it as a 'stopover' before heading on the next day to Hoi An.

After a 4 hour coach journey which was sufficiently hot and uncomfortable we arrived in Hoi An.

What an unbelievable place.

Despite the similarities in name, Hanoi and Hoi An could not be further apart. The noisy mopeds and clogged streets of Hanoi were replaced by cobbled streets filled with Chinese lanterns and a river with bridges clinging from one side to the other.

It really is a unique place. The weather is also completely different. Although the evenings are humid and sticky, the days are filled with sunshine and blue skies.

Perfect beach weather. Luckily Hoi An has a pretty good one of those as well.

Around 4km's away from the town there is a pristine golden beach. The only way to access it is via a push bike, so every morning we've ridden from the hotel along the coast road.

Needless to say, we are both hesitant to leave. But leave we must. We are after all 'travelling'.

So onto Nha Trang tonight, on our first 'night bus'. Dispel any illusions of Harry Potter you may have. This is far more unpleasant. As long as the air con works, I don't care what state the bus is in.

Once in Nha Trang, it's a one night special and onto Mui Ne. We've heard whispers of sand dunes and sand surfing.

Fingers crossed all is well back home. I've also decided to add a 'I've been listening to' feature to my posts. Mostly for my sake. But whatever song(s) has popped up on shuffle that I have especially enjoyed since my last post, I'l let you know on here.

Thanks for reading!

I've been listening to: Mr Hudson and the Library

So here we are. A day shy of 3 weeks into my round the world trip on Friday 13th. My first blog post.





A lot has happened since I left the UK so I'll give a brief overview of what has happened for the sake of those who care.





After arriving in Bangkok we took a good 3 days to get over our jet lag. It was the first time I had really experienced it and it was not a fun experience. I have new found respect for people who travel contuniously round the world. But after a few days of adjusting and finally realising complaining about the humidity doesn't actually make it go away, we acclimatised.





Off to the Elephant Sanctuary we went.





You may or may not know, we visited said sanctuary 2 years ago and loved it so much, promised ourselves we would go back. What a brilliant decission.





In spite of the 40 degree heat, intermitent electricity for the fans at night and copious amounts of rice. It really was an experience I will never forget. The people we worked with became family within days and working alongisde such beautiful animals alongside the river kwae was something dreams are for.





With all that in mind, leaving after a week was a tester but with heavy hearts and a full memory stick of photo's we headed back to Bangkok for our flight to Vietnam.





Now...





As pointed out earlier we had visited Thailand before and so there wasn't a cultural experience this time round. If we were looking for it, we found it the second our flight hit the runway.





The skyscrapers and western values of Thailand were long gone. Replaced by echo's of the 1960's and a country struggling to find it's identity.





I have been transfixed since I arrived in Vietnam. Trying to work out whether it is trying to desperately cling on to it's Asian roots or branch out and develop.





Money is the buzz word.





More so than anywhere else, you are exclusively aware that you are a tourist and you WILL pay more than a local. The vietnamese realise the value of a pound far more than their bordering neighbours. (excluding China of course)





It seems to me that the true beauty of Vietnam is being lost in a desperate dash to make money. We took a tour of Halong Bay for 2 nights, which was beautiful. But everything had been tailored to a western criteria. It just didn't feel authenticly Asian.





It was almost as if I could have been anywhere in the world, if it wasn't for the striking limestone mountains peeking out the water.





We are now beginning our trip down Vietnam, mostly by train. We're currently in Hanoi for two days and from what we have seen, it should be good.

The streets are packed with mopeds, speeding alongside old Parisian style buildings with long tall windows. (The shopping is also pretty good. $9 for vans!)

Next up is the coastal town of Hue Ay on the train.

Hope all is well back home. Love from us both.