After two nights in Hue, we caught the morning train to Danang. It was three hours late, so it’s a good job that Hue has a bunch of cafés just outside the train station that will supply you with pho and nice coffee. A friendly man who seemed to work at the train station informed … More Vietnam: Danang, Hoi An and My Son
I’ll first tell you about overnight trains in Vietnam. We took one from Ninh Binh to Hue (pronounced something like “hweh”), which took nearly 12 hours if memory serves. When booking a train in Vietnam, it’s smart to book ahead of time – so, if you’re in a town for two days, book your train … More Vietnam: Overnight trains in Vietnam, and visiting Hue
A word on Vietnam’s trains… The Man in Seat Sixty-One has produced a more detailed guide than I could ever hope to do, so always check his site out to see how to get from A to B in Vietnam. There are prices, times, explanations of the different classes of train and even some photos. … More Vietnam: The Beautiful Sights of Ninh Binh (“Halong Bay on land”)
The Vietnam part of our honeymoon was for 10 days – we had a flight in to Hanoi from Bangkok, and – 10 days later – one out of Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) back to Bangkok. Vietnam has a train that goes from north to south, with several stops along the way. The plan was to … More Vietnam: Wandering around Hanoi
When Karl Pilkington visited Thailand’s “monkey town”, despite having his food stolen and dreams shattered, I knew that I had to go there. Lopburi is a city with a long, rich history dating back 1000 years or more. However, a lot of this history has been overshadowed by the fact that the city is now infested … More Thailand: Watching Monkeys in Lopburi
We started day 4 with a visit to the Golden Buddha, or Wat Traimit. It’s a 5-10 minute walk from Hua Lamphong, and pretty easy to find if you follow a map. Thanks to Google Street view, you can even see where it is it through this link (just a link to the map, but … More Thailand: Golden Buddha, Bangkok’s Wat Pho and Museum Siam
Ayutthaya, or “the poor man’s Ankor Wat” (quote probably made up by me during hour 3 of dehydration and confusion in Ayutthaya) is a two-hour journey from Bangkok and a good day out if you like ancient ruins. A little history for you – the city of Ayutthaya was founded in 1350 and was the … More Thailand: From Bangkok to Ayutthaya
