A Hop, Skip, & a 17 Hour Train Ride Later

And alas, we come to the final chapter of the Vietnam journey (technically not because we were still in Hanoi for another 24 hours afterwards- but just go with it).

As a true tourist, problematic-shopper, and comfort-zoner, Hoi An was by far my favourite city of the two. Hanoi was too much; noise, scootering, litter, people- all of it. Hoi An on the otherhand- wow. But before I tell you about this magical place I feel it is entirely necessary to tell you about our overnight train experience.

We opted for the 17 hour overnight train from Hanoi to Danang, despite our desperate need for a nights sleep, a comfy bed, and just a little tender love and care generally- the need to not spend four times the cash on a flight ticket was a little more pending. So on we hop, thinking we've bought pretty decent beds in a pretty decent cabin, snacks in hand, and phone batteries desperately low. Through the language barrier we get led to our cabin- past the four bedder, well lit, tourist filled carriages, and straight to the local ones, with three beds sandwiched above each other on either side of the 6ft wide cabin and one flickering light. And we had the top bunks. Which meant we had to abandon our luggage to the floor and amble up to our 3cm thick 'mattresses', shove our passports, wallets, snacks, etc into the lockers by our head (all the while, crouching because you can't even sit up straight when you're on the top bunk), and just hope for the best.

I do need to mention; I'm pretty nervous of any form of transportation that doesn't involve me behind the wheel of the car. I've comfortably taken trains back home, but for the durations of maximum 20 minutes to the beach. 17 hours, through the Vietnamese countryside, through the night, and stopping every 40 minutes- rather abruptly. Exhilarating stuff. In short, to save you every gruelling detail of the rollercoaster we didn't realise we had hopped onto, I slept perhaps 7 hours in total- waking up every hour and a half to a bizarre noise, a violent turn, or a screeching halt, Jess didn't sleep at all but rather chose to feign it throughout the night, both our phones sat at 3% for the whole night because our cabin mates decided their phones had priority, and we made 'friends' with the screaming kids three cabins down the way. (By friends I mean we entertained them for the first hour and then ended up shutting our cabin door and having to hold it in place to stop them all from rushing in and waking our bunk mates with the hollers of "HELLO")

Anyways- after a sleepless night, a restless morning of watching the country whisk by while we sit in the trap we had put ourselves in, and many awkward interactions with locals who double take to see a tourist in their carriage- we finally made it to the Danang Station. Although station is a longshot because truly all we did was step off the train, down onto the dirt below, and walk across the rails to the main road (that's right- no platform). One extra taxi ride out of Danang and to Hoi An, and we immediately felt our stress levels lowering. Less scooters, less litter, less noise- just less chaos. But so. much. beauty.

Almost every building is yellow- which just makes it so light, happy and tres trendy for this summer in case you hadn't seen enough yellow in the stores yet. But really, the architecture is so stunning and you can really see the French influence. There's bougainvillea everywhere, so many buildings with splashes of colour- like a green door on a blue wall, or a pink bridge- and cafes between every store where you can run in and escape the heat.

Beyond the colours and the general aura; Hoi An is known for the retail, tailors, and the markets. We shopped so much and so freely that I can safely say I'm down to affording maybe one meal out a day in Bali- but have absolutely no regrets because this gal walked away with four new pairs of leather Birkenstocks for the price of one back home! Unfortunately we never made it to the night market or the lantern market- because frankly we were cashing in on our opportunities for early nights before a five person Bali trip which ensured alcohol and late nights. But we both agreed that if we ever returned to Vietnam (which is definitely a plan in the future), we could easily just spend the whole trip in Hoi An. I highly highly highly recommend it- not only for the cheap leather, silk and cashmere, but just for the way more chilled experience and almost Parisian feel. (Says the girl who has never been to Paris- but you'll get what I mean).

I cashed in on the beautiful location and my insta-husband Jess and I spent pretty much a whole morning scouting out picture locations, outfits in tow, and me running around corners to execute the quickest public outfit changes I could muster in 28 degree heat with 90% humidity. So expect many many pictures with Vietnamese backgrounds in the coming posts- I'm not letting those go to waste!

And that concludes Vietnam! I really enjoyed it- it was a massive culture shock truthfully, especially in comparison to my true love of very Westernised and a lot smaller island, Bali. But it was incredible. I really hope to go back, with more time than just 9 days, and somewhat of an itinerary so I get the chance to really see the culture of the country- especially being the history nerd that I am.

Hope you've enjoyed- and if you're looking for a fair share of throwbacks, follow my instagram and you'll be bombarded with the pictures for a few more weeks when I'm sulking back at work and in winter (@gingerdoes)