Hue & Hoi An – Halfway to Ho Chi Minh

Hue Hoi An

The next stops on our journey south through Vietnam would be the central cities of Hue and Hoi An. Both are beautiful (especially Hoi An), but any readers hungry for photographs will have to wait a little longer. We’re currently marooned on an island in the South China Sea and have very limited access to the internet. That will mean that the next couple of posts will be text only, but I do pledge to revisit them and add some images when that becomes an option. Anyway, on to our continuing adventures in Vietnam… Continue reading “Hue & Hoi An – Halfway to Ho Chi Minh”

Phong Nha – Duck Tales

After a long day of waiting, we finally boarded the night bus for Phong Nha. The journey was a painful 7 hours long and had us arriving in Phong Nha town at 4am, possibly the most inconvienient time to arrive anywhere. Fortunately for us we were staying at the Amanda Hotel, home of the the nicest and most accomodating host in Vietnam. Continue reading “Phong Nha – Duck Tales”

Sapa and Tavan – Village of rice, rice baby

After scoffing down an early breakfast, we were collected by a mini-bus before being dropped off to our sleeper bus to Sapa. You’d have thought that we’d have had enough of sleeper buses after the last experience but, at a puny 6 hours, this was a relative blink of an eye. The journey was eased by the fact that much of the second half involved winding mountain roads which climbed up into clouds, looking down over the valleys below. It wasn’t long before the doors were opening into the northern city of Sapa. Continue reading “Sapa and Tavan – Village of rice, rice baby”

Hanoi-ingly good

Hanoi

And so, after the bus journey to end all bus journeys, we had finally reached our first destination in Vietnam – Hanoi. After pulling into the bus station, we instantly hopped into a taxi and were on our way to our hostel. As the taxi pulled out and we entered the whirling sea of traffic, you are hit by one over-riding thought – “Shit! That’s a lot of bikes!”. Continue reading “Hanoi-ingly good”