Well we were all quite excited to be jumping on board the sleeper train, and somewhat apprehensive.Having been told our accommodation would be of a 'basic' standard throughout the trip, I think we have been quite spoilt so far, - always air con, clean room and double beds. Not too shabby. However, with regard to the sleeper train, I wasn't so sure what to expect - vividly remembering my train ride in Sri Lanka. As fun as the train journey was, there would be no way I would have wanted to sleep on that train.

Climbing on board, I was pleasantly taken aback. Clean spacious rooms with double bunks, a bedside table, and air conditioning seemed like a pretty good deal. A proper Western flushing toilet, with toilet roll and a sink was most definately the highlight. We were then extremely excited at the prospect of travelling overnight on a train, and immediately decided that this would always be our preffered method of travel. Everything about it beats a bus by far: travelling overnight means you get to the next intended destination with a whole day to enjoy it, as well as a good night's rest too. We spent the evening playing card games before putting our head's down for the 5am start, when the train arived in Nha Trang.

Our hotel was pretty swish with a gorgeous swimming pool, it was devine. We had two free days to do whatever we liked, absolute bliss. The beach across the road was our first stop, which was already much much nicer than that in Cambodia. Whitey-orange sand beaches lined with luscious plam trees, and a roaing sea, with forest covered islands to perfect the backdrop. And with far fewer peple harrassing us for money and to buty goods made the experience much nicer too. The sea here, is however much choppier, and there is a wave barrier you have to somehow navigate to be able to swim out. I crashd and burned several times before I powered through and swam hrough and past the wave, and it made for light amusement watching other people's attempts too. I did'nt stay in the water for too long - the waves became larger, and when I was dragged under for the third time I gave up and retired to sunbathe. The rest of the day was spent in the fashion, either by the beach or pool, and it was great to know we could relax, without having a set itinerary to stick to.

As nice as the sun on our bodies felt, we didn't quite ealise how much we'd had. After gathering for dinner, all showered and changed, the redness and heat radiated out from most. My ankles had swollen three times teir usual size and were red raw; I got off pretty lightly however, some were red all over, particulalry Simon. But that was just funny, he literally looked, (and still does, it hasn't really eased off), like a tomato. Very amusing, but a day in the shade was definately called for the following day.

After a day spent in the shade, writing postcards and general relaxation, we checked out of our piece of luxury, bid farewell to the beautiful swimming pool, and once again headed for the train station once again to climb onboard our second sleeper train of the trip to take us further north to Denang, from where we would take a bus to the old town of Hoi An.