While we would have loved to stay in Hoi An a little bit longer, it was our last full-day in Vietnam and we were keen to see more of the country so we caught motorbikes to Da Nang and a return train trip to the ancient city of Hue. The train ride follows the coast line. On one side you have cove upon cove of empty blue beaches and on the other side, dense green jungle canopy occasionally opening up to a flowing creek. It is hard to believe that such a beautiful...

As with the rest of South East Asia, the food is one the most enjoyable facets of traveling through Vietnam. Two meals have definitely made their mark; Pho from the local restaurants and the Vietnamese rolls sold by the street vendors. Pho is a beef noodle soup which is normally eaten for breakfast by the locals. Served right, the beef melts in the mouth in a broth with an explosion of chilli and mint. The Vietnamese rolls are an assortment of mysterious meats ch...

Every hotel in Hoi An provides bikes for a dollar a day. ,However, as we experienced in Laos, they only seem to be the old school girl variety. Riding around the outskirts of town provided an opportunity to see the the real community go about their everyday life. Whether it was squatting down working in the rice paddies, praying in a temple or playing a game of soccer, people were just getting on with living life, oblivious to anyone else looking in. The ride (...

It is amazing what your first impressions are of a place when you arrive late at night and how they change when you view the same place in the fresh morning light. What seemed to be a dark ghost town in the dead of night, came to life with the morning rays. Hoi An is a beautiful city with amazing architecture and despite the amount of shops directed at tourists, the city has a strong cultural feel to it. The town was an old trading port and the Europeans have ...

So another day, another early rise and another bus. This time, a so called "sleeper bus". We weren't really sure they meant "sleep" literally as it wasn't much of an option on this ride. Once again, karaoke blared from the early hours of the morning and a thin full reclining chair with a little bottom boxed in metal area that our clunky Western legs had to perform contortion acts to even think of squeezing into. Border crossings can be a little tense at the best...