Hello! Had a restful few days in Nha Trang, though once again it failed to be the few days of beach and sun-bathing action we were hoping for! Apart from a couple of hours on monday afternoon, we've barely seen the sun, so we've had to make do with warm, cloudy days wandering around the city and out and about on a moped rather than vegging on sun-loungers. Shame really, because we've really liked Nha Trang's bars and restaurants and apart from the constant reminders in the hotels and restaurants that thieves on motos will steal your bags if you set foot out of your hotel, it's got a really nice ambiance. A bit of sunshine would've been perfect!

We filled our time on Tuesday with a trip to the local Hot Springs and Mud Bath resort... $22 dollars to cover yourselves in grey / green mud in a double-tub was very entertaining!

So, increasingly pale and pasty, we're getting the night train to Danang this evening, from where we're a short bus ride from Hoi An, which is supposed to be lovely (though equally cold!). Our recent forays into train stations have given us a great first-hand view of the vietnamese inability to queue properly. Aside from the architecture and the sweeping boulevards, it seems the French have left behind one of their less endearing traits! On Tuesday Rach could only stand and watch as one person after another pushed to the front of the queue, with a seemingly life-threatening query which simply had to be dealt with in that nanosecond! At one point, she was even moved aside by one gentleman as she was stood in his way. As a reward for that act of gallantry, Rach taught him a new English word... p**** It's unclear as to whether or not he will be sharing it with his friends and family over the coming days or not...

We've also booked our flights today from Hanoi to Louang Phabang in Laos on the 29th of February. We did as much research as we could and we're almost 80% sure that the pilots aren't selected on a first-come, first-served basis each day and that it will be safe as houses... From there we head south to Vientiane and on into Thailand... our final 7 weeks of sunshine and the beach are now no more than 15 days away!!!