Videos - Vietnam 2008 and 2010

Everyone who's visited Vietnam has their own 'crossing the road' story, photos or videos...we're no different. This one is called NOT crossing the road in Saigon. We're trying to reach our pink hotel on the other side, but stopped to take a video of what we were up against.

To train or not to train? Part III

To train or not to train? Part I

To train or not to train? Part II

Hanoi 2010. We’ve caught up with old friends and made new ones. Now it's time to make our way to Hue. Adopting the ‘winging it’ method of travelling more and more in recent trips, we had not booked any flight. The price, by Vietnamese prices, was expensive and there weren’t any departing soon enough for our pencilled in itinerary. I had read about Livitrans before arriving and opted to give it a go. The VIP cabins, for two, were only available on runs to Sapa, so it was Tourist Class for us.

One of the hotel staff accompanied us to the station where we entered (a controlled and sanitised room) and waited in a separate area to the local travellers. We boarded. Our roomies were a couple from Holland. Pleasant and friendly. Our cabins were similarly pleasant and friendly, with complimentary water, snack and tooth brushes. Not a bad trip and would probably do it again, although next time, perhaps medicated.

It’s just that lack of sleep thing that gets me every time and the train driver had a habit of slamming on the breaks every hour or so. Arrive Hue.

A couple of days later we biked it from Hue to Hoi An, which is not far from Danang (about 6 hours with scenic stops) and is the end of the line for the Livitran service. Not sure if it’s a north/south remnant left over from the war. From Danang we were headed for Nha Trang, but the trains weren’t overnighters.

I spoke to the girls at the Mango Split cafe (photo) in Hoi An, who suggested stopping in one of two towns to break up the trip. Quy Nhon (will be going there again) here we come!

*Word of advice – check out the price directly from/at the train station, before buying your ticket. Ripped off severely by VN standards....

Day 12 Quy Nhon to Nha Trang

I had soooo much trouble editing this post, I decided to upload them as pictures...sorry, you might have to use your magnifying tool.

Day 11 Hoi An to Quy Nhon

The train trip took about 5 hours to Dieu Tri station, from Danang, which is only about an hour from Hoi An... then a short taxi ride to the beach side town of Quy Nhon. I was taught that if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all...so I won't say much about the actual train, except that the people were friendly and welcoming.

The scenery along the way was nice...I think...that's dirt on the window (above).

The taxi driver recommended the Saigon Hotel, which was a little above our budget. The receptionist directed us to the Y Linh Hotel, one block north and about half the price. We were offered the choice of two rooms - one which was massive and one smaller, but with a huge balcony, which we chose, and had views of the beach and esplanade.
Quy Nhon was a nice surprise, with very few tourists and very little English spoken. After a short stroll, Stray and I found a local cafe/restaurant, where plenty of locals were dining. The food was fantastic and we were a bit of a novelty and entertainment for the other patrons. My migraine headache did not make the experience very enjoyable. We had an early night, as I felt like death warmed up.