Ninh Binh & The Perfume Pagoda: 22-23 April 2011 After Hue, our next destination was the city of Ninh Binh, just a short distance south of Vietnam's capital, Hanoi. We wanted to take the overnight train to Ninh Binh to avoid eating into the very limited time we had to spend here but the train times were particularly unsociable and would have resulted in an extra nights stay which we couldn't afford in our tight itinerary, so after much debate we finally agre...

Hue: 19-21 April Firstly, an apology: The obviously popular Ghost Writer has departed these shores and returned home. Although his antics will live on for the next few entries, you're back to hearing from us! Also, thank you for all the messages/e-mails we've been receiving - it's great hearing from you although it's been difficult to reply due to Facebook/Hotmail restrictions in Vietnam. Anyway... We hired a car and driver for the relatively short hop north ...

Hello again, the Ghost Writer here! We left the hotel at Nha Trang at an unearthly hour and got the train at 05.38. It was about 20 minutes late but that aside we were kitted up with some provisions from the night before and sleep can come very easily on the train on an eight hour stint (usually). Our destination today was North to Da Nang and officially into Central Vietnam, before instantly leaving Da Nang and heading to the historic trading town of Hoi An s...

Nha Trang - 14th April to 15th April After 3 hectic days in Ho Chi Minh City we boarded the train to head for the coastal town of Nha Trang which is a major fishing port but also currently Vietnam's premier beach resort and after the madness that is Saigon we were looking forward to a day relaxing by the beach. This was our first train journey in Vietnam and it was certainly a memorable experience. Although old, the train was fairly comfortable and we were l...

Ho Chi Minh City 12 - 14 April Good morning Vietnam! I've been waiting months to say that! And so it came to pass that after 2 flights and combined flight time of just over 14 hours there in a crowded Saigon Airport stood the happy travelling couple waiting to greet me. The heat even at 10am local time was overwhelming and it was rather overwhelming to finally see my two chums after all this time. For concerned relatives and friends eager for news; I am happy ...