The trusty Man in Seat 61 web site (extremely useful web site for rail travel around the world) informed us that the section of railway between Hue and Da Nang was amongst the most awesome in the world (well, it might not have used the word awesome but that’s how I interpreted it!) so we booked our train ticket as soon as we could before it sold out (as there are only about 3 or 4 trains per day in each direction). We were certainly not disappointed – the train slowly wended its way up into the hills, then swept coastwards to give us largely uninterrupted views out to the turquoise sea below! At some points we were so close to the sea that you literally couldn’t see anything below you but water – scary but very cool! The fact that the scenery was so breathtaking was fortunate as the ‘air conditioned soft seat’ we had booked was pretty ropey! The seats were so manky Fran refused to put her shoulders on them and the air con didn’t work properly so it was like being in an oven! You can see below though that this didn’t matter – what a spectacular view! The three hours went by in a flash; we would come back to Vietnam just to do that journey again – simply awesome!!! We’d probably say that this train journey was the defining moment of the trip so far – worth every moment enduring a ropey bus, rickety train or stinky boat journey!!!
Aboard the Gas Mark 5 wagon
Not quite First Class…!
When we arrived in Da Nang we hopped straight in a taxi for Hoi An with an English couple from London we met on the train. Apparently they were on the way back from Oz – doing the same thing but in reverse (although they were flying – simply not cricket!). Upon arrival at Hoi An, you are greeted by some pretty old crumbling colonial terraces with the streets feeling a little like some frontier town out of a Spaghetti Western! We splashed out a bit on a proper hotel for a whopping $20 for the night – worth every penny for a good nights’ sleep!
Tree-lined boulevards
Rustic-tastic!
A few ‘arty’ shots!
Fran happy with her snazzy new £1 foldaway hat!
Hoi An is famous for its tailors – you can get a fully tailored suit made up overnight. In the awesome Top Gear Vietnam special I keep going on about, Hoi An is where they get their Technicolor suits made! Though it was tempting to get a suit, it would be a crumpled mess by the time we get back to the UK! Anyway, we spent the afternoon exploring Hoi An and came to the conclusion that it was a very pretty little town, however it did feel a bit ‘mock authentic’ – when restaurants are priced in US Dollars instead of local currency you know you’re being ripped off!!! In the evening we met up with the English couple and a few of their travel companions from Germany and Holland for dinner. The Dutch guy was motorbiking down from Hanoi and had a fair few injuries and horror stories to show for it! We had planned to have a quiet one but after crawling around Hoi An’s numerous ‘happy hour’ establishments we ended in a pretty bizarre but awesome bar called the King Kong Bar drinking Vietnamese Rum (or paint stripper – one of the two) and Coke, served by a Vietnamese Ronnie Wood lookalike!
Hoi An Market – looking out to the estuary
Not bad view!
Rich spreading the word of Lionel Richie to the people of ‘Nam
Hoi An by night
Awesome bar!
I blame the rum…!
The following day we had a sleeper bus in the evening to Nha Trang so we hired bikes and headed to the beach. It was excruciatingly hot but the sweaty cycle was worth every pedal as the beach was absolutely breathtaking! I went for a dip – the first swim in the sea on our travels!!! Later on in the day the locals started filling the beach, bringing picnics and barbecues and having a good old jolly. It was so nice to see different generations all sitting down for a family feast – must do lots of picnics with friends and family when we get back! We ended up eating dinner at one of the al fresco eateries that spring up along the beach – a yummy pho noodle soup filled us up for the cycle back to Hoi An and prepare us for the experience that was to be the dreaded sleeper bus from Hoi An to Nha Trang…
Looking the part…
Action shot (nice hair Rich!)
Pretty reasonable beach!
Fighting for a space for your towel
Beach tucker
Family feast!
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