Hoi An was out intermediate stop on the way from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh. I’ve no idea why i picked Hoi An but the guide book said it was a nice place to visit. The trip there was an ordeal. The vietnamese trains are awful, the exact opposite of the shinkansen – they are slow, dirty and uncomfortable. Our train left Hanoi at around 7pm and was due to get to Danang at around midday of the next day. Overnight trains are generally not very comfortable and we weren’t expecting any better from this one. Our beds were in a 6-bed berth which also had an australian couple (on their way to the Isle Of Man!!!) and a bunch of vietnamese randoms. The vietnamese seem to book one bed for the entire family which is crazy. The trains are so loud that it was impossible to get sleep. At around 8am the inspector came into our berth and told us to get off the train. We assumed the next stop was Danang. It wasn’t. He had told us to get off in Hue which is 3 hours north of Danang. Bastard!! We were pissed as we had to wait 3 hours in Hue to get the next train and pay extra for the ticket. When we finally got to Danang the bus we booked wasn’t there so we had to pay extra to get a taxi to Hoi An. Very stressful stuff. But Hoi An itself turned out to be great.
Its much smaller than Hanoi so you dont get hassled every couple of metres. There’s a much more relaxed vibe about the place and its very tourist friendly. Our accomodation was also top notch. We only stayed here for a night but could have stayed for a lot longer. It’s a really nice part of vietnam to see. The area around Danang is also pretty nice and it contains the famous China Beach where the US soldiers used to hang out during the war – i vaguely remember the tv show of the same name. We rented some bikes to get a bit of exercise and head to the nearby Cua Dai beach which is about 5km away. We went the wrong way for about 10km so we ended up getting more exercise that we anticipated. I was knackered after it.
We decided to fly to Ho Chi Minh from Danang. It only costs $55 and takes an hour compared to $45 on the train and 22 hours. Easiest decision ever.