After spending time in Hanoi and Halong Bay it was time for us to leave and catch the overnight sleeper train to Hue. After catching taxis across town we arrived in plenty of time for the train, found our six-berth cabins and crammed our rucksacks into any available space, ready to enjoy the twelve-hour journey.
The guys went off to find the drinks carriage, returning four hours later having sampled most of it. A couple of us explored the train and were amazed to see people crammed into every nook and cranny including in corridors, cupboards and behind doors. We had been warned off trying any of the food on the food trolley - a selection of unappetising rice or noodle dishes - and when the guys later told us they'd seen noodles being rinsed out on the floor in amongst the cockroaches, we knew we'd made a wise decision to avoid it!
Going to the loo was certainly an experience. There are Western style or Vietnamese 'squat' toilets on board. Thankfully we were near a Western one. Even so, the loos weren't particularly clean and over the course of the twelve-hour journey, the floor got progressively more wet through so you could never be entirely sure what you were standing in.
With the exception of the guys rolling in late, plus one of our party being escorted back by the train police after being involved in a fight, the journey was largely uneventful. I didn't sleep a wink though everyone else in the cabin said they slept well, no doubt being lulled by the motion of the train.
We arrived in Hue on a humid but overcast day. As we only had a day in Hue, after checking into the hotel, I decided to wander round and see some of the local sights. Wandering across the Perfume River, a local rickshaw driver started following me for a couple of blocks, pointing out some landmarks. I decided to pay him to bring me round Hue and, after paying him the princely sum of 120,000D or £3.50 spent a very pleasurable hour being shown the sites including the Imperial City, the Citadel and the Dong Ba market, including some sights not in the guidebooks - Ho Chi Minh's family home and a pagoda complete with monks in flowing, yellow robes.
Foolishly, I had gone out without sunscreen and ended up with sunburnt arms. Hot and bothered I decided to return to the hotel and relax for the remainder of the day and try to catch up on sleep. Dinner that night was at a local restaurant 'Ushi's' where we chowed down on local Hue specialities while Ushi herself, something of a local celebrity, mingled with her customers.
Our stay in Hue was short but sweet and was certainly quieter after the chaotic streets of Hanoi, but we had heard great things about Hoi An and were looking forward to moving on.
For the four hour trip to Hoi An we decided to hire our own private bus rather than take the public bus as it gave us the option to take a slightly different route through the stunning scenery via Làng Cò beach, Danang, Marble Mountain and the Hai Van Pass. Each twist on the mountain road and hairpin bend, threw up another stunning vision of the coast below.
Arriving in Hoi An, the distinctive yellow, colonial style buildings in the Old Quarter and lanterns hanging from the pink and purple bougainvillea draped across the front of the buildings, gave the town an immediate charm. Despite the abundance of motorbikes, Hoi An has a friendly, chilled out vibe. The people seem friendlier and the town is fully geared up for tourists with its many cocktail bars, restaurants and cafes.
Hoi An is known around the world for its tailors who make beautiful hand made, made-to-measure clothes and shoes and there are several hundred of them in Hoi An. We were also lucky enough to visit a silk factory to see how silk is extracted and came face to face with real, live silk worms.
While in Hoi An we ate, for me, one of the best meals in Vietnam so far. Streets is a restaurant that helps train disadvantaged kids to become chefs. While slightly more expensive than average Vietnamese prices, the food is delicious. I started with local speciality White Rose wontons (steamed shrimp wontons), followed by another speciality 'claypot' with caramelised aubergine and tofu and steamed rice. It was incredible. And still only about £8.
Hoi An was certainly one of my favourite places in Vietnam. We met some characters - like the lady who followed me around and wouldn't leave me alone until I'd visited her shop or the Canadian guy who came to Hoi An for a holiday, ended up staying and has now opened his own coffee shop doing great Western style coffee and cakes.
We left Hoi An wishing we could have stayed longer and secretly hoping that some day some of us might come back. Next up was a ten-hour train journey to Nha Trang on one of the busiest holidays in Vietnam - Reunification Day. We prepared ourselves for the ensuing chaos.