Nha Trang

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On sunday we left Hoi An and got a taxi to Danang, a city just up the coast, and then from there caught a 9 hour train to Nha Trang. The journey was smooth and comfortable, and the Vietnam trains even have televisions! (although everything is in Vietnamese...). They regularly come round with plenty of drinks and food (including pop corn which we had as a snack!) and it was nice to be in the cool carriage and away from the humity for a bit. Since leaving Hue and coming further south both the temperatures and humidity have increased, with lots of sunshine - this was nice at first but we're grateful for air-conditioned rooms now.

We arrived at Nha Trang quite late in the evening, and found a MASSIVE cochroach in the bathroom of the hotel we checked into! (including feelers which were twice the length of its body maybe close to a foot long, no exageration). The hotel people couldn't remove it as it was lightning quick so moved us to another room!

Nha Trang is a nice beach resort and with its palm-tree lined boulevards, mountain backdrop and numerous high rise buildings reminded us both of american places by the sea - not exactly the image which you picture when someone talks about Vietnam! We spent the day at the beach, which was a 5 minute walk from our hotel, and rented two deckchairs under some shade. In the evening we went to an amazing Vietnamese restaurant called 'Lanterns' which was recommended by the Lonely Planet.

After two nights in Nha Trang, we left on tuesday around midday and caught a train to Ho Chi Minh City.

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