Our next stop following Hanoi was Hue, the 'intellectual, cultural and spiritual' capital of Vietnam (according to Lonely Planet!). The sleeper train was around 14 hours and strong earplugs and sleeping tablets ensured we got a good night's sleep. All in all, the train experience was a lot better than the one we went on last year J We arrived in Hue with Regan and Abbie (who had randomly booked the same train as us!) and got to our hotel. We had only one day ...

We had two options to get from Laos to Hanoi in Vietnam - a 30-hour bus ride through the jungle or a 1-hour flight. The bus ride has been labeled 'the bus ride from hell' so we opted for the flight - although not the cheap option, we thought it was worth it. The plane was very small with two prop engines and as we admired the scenic views of the luscious green hills and rivers, it was clear why the bus ride takes 30 hours! After some very bad turbulence (damn S...