Or not so express. We decided it would be more fun to travel by train, rather than bus or plane, it takes a wee bit longer, but it appealed to the romantic in us. The one train line up the country links Ho Chi Minh with Hanoi and it you do it non-stop takes thirty hours, we decided to stop half-way. We left Ho Chi Minh on the 8pm sleeper, arriving in Da Nang 16 hours later at a very civilised midday. The Vietnamese couple in our cabin looked very unimpressed with us, but were all smiles by the morning - obviously no snoring from Mrs B. then.
Once at our destination and the customary taxi driver haggling dealt with, we mouched to what has to be Vietnam's most traveller/tourist focused/friendly spot - Hoi An - lots of good shopping and tailors (erica), as well as restored houses and temples (edward), all of which meant us and our money were parted reguarly.
After what felt like a week and several tailored tops, I managed to drag Erica out of the shops so we could head to Hue, our next stop and only three hours away. Hue was the Imperial Capital and those, until recently unknown by us, Vietnamese Emperors did not want to be outdone by the Chinese so built their own version of the forbidden city on Perfume River.
Unfortunatley the citadel was the site of a conflagaration with the Americans and the result was some of best buildings were levelled. Despite this it's a top history geek spot and fairly free of shops. Tonight we're on for the next fifteen hour leg of the reunification express. We've got the bottom two bunks in the cabin this time...... which in case you're wondering is good news.
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