Splendid-Star-2-Hotel

12th April 2010 We were due to catch the train to the mountain town of Sapa tonight, so this morning we checked out of our hotel. The staff were excellent, letting us leave our bags in storage while we explored Hanoi and offering us the use of a room late afternoon so we could shower and freshen up before heading off to the station. Hanoi Station was our first port of call this morning. A dry run to see how far it was from the hotel and to check where we needed to collect our tickets this evening. We quickly ascertained that we would need a taxi tonight with our bags. ...

10th & 11th April 2010 We spent Saturday morning slowly packing up ready for our afternoon journey to Nha Trang. This is another beach resort, further up the coast from Mui Ne, much bigger and more touristy. It’s very popular for scuba diving, and while not originally on our itinerary this was the nearest place to Mui Ne where we could get a plane to Hanoi. The bus to Nha Trang was really busy and quite hot resulting in the first part of the journey being quite uncomfortable. However, this relented once the sun started to set and we were then able to watch the rural landscape pass by. The views from the bus were typical Vietnamese landscapes. Paddy fields and oxen carts set against a backdrop of high mountain ranges. ...