The night train from Hue to Hanoi, the express bus to Sapa - and then relaxing (Hue - Hanoi - Sapa)

The train from Hue arrived on time in Hanoi. We were woken up 15 minutes before arrival at 5:20 AM, just after daybreak. Too early but we had slept well on the train from Hue. Malene struggling a bit with the lack of A/C in the lower bunk bed but apart from that an OK experience doing the night train in Vietnam. Contrary to some of the stories from other travellers we actually found the train to be quite comfortable. Not as nice as a hotel room but still. We shared our compartment with another Vietnamese woman who was quiet, the A/C was partially working which meant the top bunk was cold and the bottom a lot warmer, there was a couple of OK toilets in our carriage. Not anything fancy, but working and by Vietnamese standards clean.

Next on the plan was to find a taxi that could take us to a bus company with an early morning connection to Sapa. There is a morning train running from Hanoi to Lao Cai and a bus connecting to Sapa but it takes more than twice as long time as the express bus - easy choice this morning.
At first the taxi drivers didn't really know where to take us. There is not a bus station in Hanoi for long distance buses to Sapa - instead you go to the bus company's office somewhere in town and they make sure you get on the bus.

Eventually we found a taxi that could take us to the Sapa Express Bus office and after a few attempts the driver succeeded in finding the office where they were just opening up at 6:15 AM. No luck though - it was sold out this morning but the nice guy at the office rang the other company that was also having a 7 AM departure and we were confirmed on that departure - and only had to walk 400 metres down the road to office. At 7 AM the bus arrived, we managed to catch a Ba Minh bun for breakfast just before the bus left and the next five hours were spent taking a few naps in the comfortable bus going on the highway to Lao Cai and then up the mountain road to Sapa for the last hour.

Being dropped off in Sapa was slightly chaotic as in "everybody out of the bus" - as our bus guide suddenly yelled. We were greeted by the usual crowd of locals wanting to sell us souvenirs, hiking trips and other stuff. We told them no, looked at our map and walked 15 minutes to our hotel only to miss it since we were paying so much attention to the left side of the road that we missed it being on the right side. They were a bit confused with our arrival but after a while they told us we were staying at the sister hotel next door, we walked there and got a really, really nice room with our own balcony. Nothing beats the feeling of a shower after 18 hours of continuous travel - and a nice bed that doesn't move.

We relaxed for a couple of hours before going out for some late lunch, then heading back to the room and relaxed the rest of the afternoon. Mikkel was the only one making it our for dinner tonight. Malene was too tired after some long days of travelling. More relaxing in Sapa tomorrow. It feels like the right place to chill. And we need it.

Breakfast to go

Getting closer to Sapa

When you have been too long in Asia

We've moved in

Visit to cu chi tunnels and bus to Can Tho

Last morning in Ho Chi Mihn City. We had booked a trip to the the Cu Chi tunnels so early breakfast and pick up from the hotel at 8:45 which also meant leaving our nice room. But we have fully enjoyed it and as much as we like occasional luxury hotels very often fell a bit sterile after a few days. You simple don't interact with the other guests in the same way as on hostels. For whatever reason.

Anyway, the half day trip started with a pick up by Jackie - Vietnamese guy - our guide for the next hours. Then another pick up with the mini bus before spending almost two hours trying to make it out of crazy HCMC traffic. Our first stop was a lacquer ware factory/souvenir outlet. Not really our thing. It was a short stop though so we quickly continued towards the cu chi tunnels and the surrounding area with Jackie keeping us informed about the war, his participation, life in prison camps and things that were worse. It takes a bit of mental energy to go to places like this and cu chi tunnels are not exception.

We made it to the bus parking lot and before we could leave the minibus there was the usual chaos of buses going back and forward. Eventually we made it to the entrance and had a really good trip with Jackie taking us through all the details of Vietcong, the tunnels, hidden traps designed to injure or kill the enemy in the worst imaginable ways and so on. And we also got the chance to see 45 year old bomb craters - left overs from the B52 bombing of the area.

The highlight was of course the option to crawl through a slightly improved section of 300 meters of tunnel, now dug bigger to allow fat tourist to crawl through it. Of the almost 200 kilometres of tunnels from the war this is officially all that remains today. It was hot, humid and crazy to image that people lived underground for so many years during the war, that it is all dug by hand and that fighting has taken place down there. What a nightmare. We made it to the end completely drenched in sweat, legs lightly shaking from being in an uncomfortable position for a little more than 15 minutes.

After a short rest we made it back to HCMC, were dropped off near our hotel, had some late lunch - sushi again - and then went back to pick up our bags and ask for bus connection to Can Tho. We guess they don't get the question about local transportation very often at Pullman but after a while we were on our way in a taxi to the bus office, then by mini bus to the bus terminal and at 6 PM our bus for Can Tho left.

The drive was the usual style of overtaking to right or left side depending on space and the bus drivers mood. We had one stop on the way with enough time for a cup of coffee and just after 9 PM we were at the bus terminal in Can Tho trying to get a local taxi driver to take us the last few kilometres to our home stay. We made it there, were greeted by the family who had the place including a nice cold beer for welcome drinks. The option of getting up at 5 AM for the night market seems a little too much for us so we'll just explore the town on our own tomorrow whenever we feel like it. Time for a good nights sleep first.

Check out from Pullman hotel

Laquer-ware factory

Our guide - Jackie the survivor

At the Cu Chi tunnels

A trap

Tunnel exit

Old US tank

A selection of traps

B-52 bomb crater

Inside the narrow tunnels

Underground kitchen

Peaceful sushi for lunch

Found the right bus for Can Tho

Taking the bus from Ngwesaung to Yangon

At 7:30 we hit the waves. Running. Last swim in the ocean in Myanmar this time. Our bus departure wasn't until 10 AM, so we had plenty of time to enjoy the morning, have breakfast on the patio and relax in the morning.

At 10 we walked down to the "reception" at the road side and waited a while for our bus. We had decided on the "expensive" version and not the local buses this time. It also meant such luxuries as air condition. Except it was set for 16 degrees so we looked for the penguins once we boarded the bus because they had to be there. And then we did the usual pick up run to various other hotels before heading to Pathein and our first lunch stop. Coming out of the bus at around 1 PM and going straight from 16 to 40 degrees was quite a shock. Short break and then back in the freezer and after a couple of hours another lunch stop. And then the last leg of the bus journey. We didn't know where we would be dropped off but when we passed the western bus station we knew it would be somewhere "else".

Thanks to Google maps we could follow the progress of the bus and thanks to the slow moving traffic it was easy to decide on a place to get off the bus that was close to our hotel. It took a couple of attempts to find a taxi that knew about our hotel but eventually we were on the move with a taxi towards Crystal Palace hotel. We got a really nice room and decided to go for dinner across the street at an Italian restaurant. Recognisable food tonight close to the hotel. We had good food and coffee and desert for 45.000 Kyat - or the equivalent of 40 normal noodle or rice meals that we consume at the local markets. It always makes you reflect a bit on the country you are visiting. But the food at Parami was really good.

All packed for travel

Karaoke which includes the water festival must be mandatory on buses in Myanmar

The main road to Pathein

Curry and rice

Yangon traffic chaos

7th floor of Crystal Palace hotel

Italian dinner