The journey to Nha Trang was via an overnight train from Ho Chi Minh City. We boarded the train about 10pm and made our way to our cabins. I was actually surprised. Yes they were basic, and yes I could see the potential for mice and bugs but hey, we had a bed! It was like bunk bed style and it was really small but we did have a little window and a cabinet with a cute lamp and some complimentary water! Bless! As it was late we were pretty much ready to catch some sleep so out came my sleeping bag (didn't trust the sheets!) and off to sleep I went...or not!! Ok so it was ok comfort wise but they have the most rickerty trains and railway lines ever!! I think I got about 2hours sleep max before they woke us up at about 4am to disembark.

Once at Nha Trang train station, we jumped into two taxi's who tried to rip us all off by fixing the meter! Fortuantely our tour leader had travelled this route many times and argued with them about the cost! Rather tough on the head at 4am!

Nha Trang is a popular beachside destination so we had 3nights here to hopefully do some exploring and relax!

When we arrived at the hotel we were able to check in, quickly freshen up and then we met for breakfast. I had a lovely big en-suite room to myself so took advantage off emptying my backpack! I had arranged to meet mum and dad who were on a Silversea cruise that was due to dock in Nha Trang about 8am, so took full advantage of the situation and took them my dirty laundry which I no longer needed for my travels! My extra light backpack was amazing to carry!!! pure bliss!!

After my group had eaten breakfast (which I skipped because I planned on eating on the ship with mum and dad) it was free time to explore so I jumped into a taxi and headed to the port.

What a pain in the bottom the port was! So obviously you can't just jump on a cruise ship, but dad had arranged a guest pass for me with Silversea so it should have been a simple process! Trying to get past the Vietnamese Immigration staff however was not easy...problem number one was the language barrier!! They didn't understand what I was saying so mum and dad had to come and meet me and get the Silversea rep to give the immigration staff authorisation etc etc. They stuck me in this room while it was all sorted! Ahh! but the end was good because I finally boarded the ship, handed over half my backpack and headed to one of the restaurants for a delicious champagne breakfast! The ship was amazing! and the champagne was limitless! Everytime I turned away the staff re-filled it! We sat chilling around the pool bar after breakfast with more champagne and then before leaving the ship I emptied mum and dads mini bar! I left with a bag full of alcohol and cosmetics! Oh and I was totally hammered! I jumped into a taxi to take me back to the hotel only to realise that I 'thought' I had left my purse on the ship which was due to depart in about 15minutes!! Eek!! Panic struck and I phoned dad who searched his room...no sign of the purse! He went onto the balcony to get a better signal and mum closed the balcony doors which dad didn't realise and walked straight into...Boom smashed up nose!! The good news is, I had my purse all along, the bad news is, dad had a messed up nose (bad news for mum however was that she had to clean the blood off the balcony doors!!!!) Whoops! Quite funny though!!

Back at the hotel I booked myself a facial at the hotel spa hoping it would sober me up so I could meet the rest of the group later that evening for dinner! I actually fell asleep and the poor girl had to wake me up after my facial! haha.

By 7pm I was sober enough to get ready and head out for dinner. We ate at a local restaurant and ended up staying out late drinking and sampling many of the local bars. I did take it relatively steady as we had a boat trip booked for the next day! This was an optional excursion that a few of us had booked earlier in the day.

So the following morning we were up and ready for the boat trip! I had to dash out and buy a bikini as I only had bikini bottoms! God knows where on earth my top was! but part from that we made it to the pier on time and boarded our boat for a day at sea.

The boat trip was hilarious! It was like a party boat and they just wanted you hammered and on the kareoke! We did have a nice lunch though which was all local vietnamese dishes and then it was time to jump in the water (and not look at what was floating past you lol) and enjoy the free 'floating bar' !! I'm not sure what on earth was in them drinks but I do remember loving the spice girls!! haha. We stopped off at a couple of different areas including quite a nice beach before heading back to the mainland late afternoon. It was a case of freshening up and then heading back out for dinner with all of the group. Dinner with the group meant dinner AND MORE DRINKS with the group :-) happy times!!

Our final day in Nha Trang was at leisure so we were free to do what we wanted. A few people headed off on their own but quite a few of us decided to head over on the cable car to an island home to a rather hilarious Vietnamese theme park! We messed around on the arcades, played on the dodgems and braved the really crappy rollercoaster!! We loved it so much we went on it twice!! There was also a water park here so a few people braved the water slides...the cable car was enough for me especially with everyone discussing ways to survive or die if it dropped off!! The gail force winds did not help me from feeling rather ill and terrified!!!! Needless to say I was rather relieved to make it back alive!!!

That evening we packed our backpacks, showered and headed out for a late dinner and a few drinks before heading back to the train station for another overnight journey to Hoi An. I decided to have a few drinks to see if I would sleep better on the train! The standards were supposed to get worse the further into the trip we got so I was also hoping to sleep through and not worry about any mice nibbling away at my feet!! We also said goodbye to some awesome members of the group who were staying on in Nha Trang. We were however due to catch up with a few that had gone there own way a few days earlier.

With my bags packed I was ready for another adventure on the amazing Vietnamese trains...Hoi An here I come :-)