Sat 1st - Fri 7th Feb (Week 19)

Sat 1st - Got picked up by our Hue EasyRiders from our hotel at 8am. We were a bit concerned how they were going to carry our huge rucksacks, day bags, us and them, but they just strapped the big bags on the back, and we were good to go. Took the road back to Da Nang, stopping at China Beach which is just a beautiful long stretch of white sand as far as the eye can see. Then onto Marble Mountain where we spent an hour looking around the pagodas and caves - some of them made from marble and some were huge. Then we left the city behind and headed up the Hai Van pass, seeing beautiful jungle as we headed up the mountain, and looking back down on beautiful turquoise bays. Drove back down the other side through the clouds and stopped for lunch at a fish restaurant on the lagoon of Lang Co. After telling our guides we didn't really like seafood, we got presented with a plate of BBQ'd shellfish, followed by a hotpot of shrimp, squid, bamboo, more shellfish and other weird things. We just laughed in amazement to start with, but after eating it for about half and hour, we started feeling queasy and had to leave the rest ! Headed off again at 1pm and went to Elephant Springs which was a river flowing down from the mountain into a beautiful turquoise crystal clear pool. We hadn't realised we could swim there, so hadn't brought our swimsuits, but Brandon was so keen to go in, he went in his pants ! Final stop was to see some traditional fishing boats, fisheries and rice fields, then got into Hue and our hotel at 3:30pm. Wonderful day, really good fun weaving in and out of the traffic, seeing the sights at your own pace, and such a nice way to travel. Spent 40mins walking to the train station in Hue to book our overnight train on the 4th, only to discover that there is only one train a day at the moment due to TET, which gets into Ninh Binh at 1am. Wonderful. So more research is needed into our other options yet again. Both fed up and couldn't be bothered to trawl the streets looking for restaurants again, so had a cheap KFC dinner and icecream !

Sun 2nd - Spent the entire morning trying to sort out onward travel to Ninh Binh, asking at whatever agencies were open and getting very brief answers and not overly helpful. So in the end, we just booked the overnight bus through our hotel, as well as a day tour for Tuesday. Found a nice cafe for lunch and had fruit, muesli, yoghurt, and Brandon had a sandwich and banana pancake - staying safe after yesterdays food ! Headed over to the Imperial Citadel at 2pm and wandered around there for 2 hours. It was pretty impressive, but we watched a video on how it once was and it seems most of it has gone now, due to time, and wars etc, a real shame.

Mon 3rd - Quite a relaxing day doing some research for Laos and Burma, and booking some accommodation. Apparently to get your Burma visa in KL, you need to provide evidence of your full itinerary, flights in and out, and accommodation booked ! So I've just been preparing all that today ! Had a few hours break to head out to see the Dieu De pagoda, but it wasn't anything very special, and not worth the 30+ min walk to get there. Bought some nice zip-off trousers, tailored to the right length for me, for £5 - bargain, and Brandon bought a gigantic sleeping bag liner for £4.

Tues 4th - Checked out and got collected for a Hue day trip at 8:15, drove around the same streets for 30mins, and then got dropped off just down the street from our hotel at 8:50 ! Took a Dragon Boat down the Perfume river, which sounds romantic and lovely, but was in reality an old boat that chugged along at walking speed, and the 15 tourists sat inside on plastic restaurant chairs ! We stopped at Phu Mong Garden House which was a nice temple style house with all sorts of fruit trees in the ground. Next we stopped at the 7 storied Thien Mu Pagoda - the most famous in Hue for Buddhism. Then we had a really long stretch on the boat and finally arrived at Hon Chen temple, which we stopped at for 5 mins - not even enough time to go around it ! Had possibly the worst lunch we've ever had - some weird rice/pork combination all rolled into a cylinder which we then all got 2 small slices of ! Finally arrived at the Royal Tombs - the main sights of the day - at 1:45. Had 30mins around Minh Mang, Khai Dinh and Tu Duc tombs each, by which time we were really getting worried we weren't going to be back in time for our 5pm sleeper bus pickup ! The tombs were stunning, if a little run-down in parts, but it just felt so rushed that we couldn't enjoy it. Arrived back at the hotel at 5, and the sleeper bus eventually showed up at 5:50pm. We somehow got landed with the triple bed right at the back, sharing with another backpacker. Absolutely no leg room, loud speaker right above our heads and right next to the toilet. Wonderful. We had a stop for 30mins at 8pm to grab some food which wasn't actually too bad and good value, then I took my first Peruvian sleeping pill, earplugs in, eye mask on, and tried to get some sleep. The loud music did mercifully stop at 9:30 but the cramped conditions, jerky bus and loud mobile ring tones going off all night meant I got little sleep.

Wed 5th - Arrived into Ninh Binh at 6am, were given 2 mins warning to get our stuff together and were then unceremoniously dumped on the side of the road in the dark ! Luckily Brandon had a Google GPS on his tablet so we were able to navigate the 15min walk to our hotel. Even more luckily, they let us check in straight away and we went to bed until 10am. Did some research and planning until 1pm, then went out for a nice lunch at the no. 1 Trip Advisor restaurant in Ninh Binh (there aren't very many restaurants here ) ! Just plastic chairs in an outside street area, but good food and good value. I then went back to bed for 2 hours, bit more research, had dinner back at the same restaurant, and then early night. We're not made for uncomfortable overnight buses anymore - makes us good for nothing the whole of the next day !

Thurs 6th - Brandon was very brave and hired a moped to ride around the area today ! We drove out to Tam Coc (6km away) and went to the Bich Dong Pagoda where we were initially taken for gullible tourists and tried to charge us 20,000 to park the bike, and 200,000 entrance !! When in fact we managed to park for 5,000, and there was no entrance fee ! Incredible. The pagoda wasn't anything too special, but climbing up the limestone karst behind it provided lovely views all over the valley. Then we drove to Mua Cave and walked up the 500 stairs to another great lookout - over lush green rice fields, karsts, and the winding river. Had lunch in Tam Coc, then took a row boat for 2 hours down the river. Very interesting how they row the boats - some in the normal way, and others sitting back, taking it easy, rowing with their feet, and very skilfully as well. It was quite overcast so wasn't as good views as it could have been but it was still lovely cruising along by the paddy fields, karsts and going through 3 caves. We were prepared for the onslaught of souvenirs, drinks and food selling and managed to come away unscathed ! Headed back to the hotel at 4:30 and Brandon was driving like a local - weaving in and out of the traffic on the freeway, beeping his horn merrily along with everyone else - hilarious. Bought a Vietnamese sim card and both called home which was a nice surprise as we haven't spoken since the New Year.

Fri 7th - We intended to go to Trang An today - another place similar to Tam Coc, but when we got up, it was grey, rainy and misty, so we decided not to bother, and just spent the day doing more research, planning and booking future accommodation etc. Had our fourth meal in 3 days back at the same restaurant and now we're regulars, we got snacks to start, free bananas, and a box of biscuits as a goodbye gift ! Walked to the train station at 4pm, and I have to say it did remind me of India a little bit - mass of people all waiting outside with their luggage and boxes and all sorts, with no system or queue or any idea what we had to do ! Apparently they only let people onto the platform when their train is due, so we had to wait for the Saigon train to leave first, then we were allowed on. Only 30mins delayed and managed to find the right carriage, right booth and correct hard sleeper beds. They are not exaggerating when they call them "Hard". Even for the 3 hour journey I was very uncomfy, made worse by the fact you can't sit upright and have to lean at an angle. Arrived into Hanoi at 8pm, got a taxi to our lovely Hanoi 3B hotel and checked into our room with an elephant towel animal, and petals on the bed - for £5 each a night, including ensuite, aircon, fridge, safe and huge breakfast ! I love SE Asia prices sometimes ! Grabbed some dinner at a recommended restaurant just down the road (New Day) and had a quick look around the local streets before heading to bed.