I'm now in Hue (pronounced Hway), which was Vietnam's capital city and home of the Royal Family until 1945, when Ho Chi Minh declared independance from France. At this time the last King surrendered his powers and soon after moved abroad, thereby ending Vietnam's royal dynasty forever. I'm taking the time to update tonight because it may be a few days before I get the chance to get online again. Tomorrow morning we are visiting the Imperial Citadel, before we tak...

Good morning from the small town of Hoi An, where I've spent the last 3 full days - the longest stop of my South East Asia tour. We depart this afternoon on a private bus up to Hue, crossing on the way the Hai Van Pass, which looked amazing when Top Gear came here! The weather is nice and hopefully it'll be the same at the top of the pass. It'll be nice not to have to use a night train for a journey. The one to Hoi An was much worse than our first one, which much...

Hello from Vietnam's premier beach resort, Nha Trang. I've had a fantastic couple of days here but we are about to leave on our second night train, bound for the quaint town of Hoi An. I am not looking forward to disembarking the train in Danang at 4.30am, and then having to get a one hour bus south to Hoi An, but thats the plan. Judging by our first overnight train from Saigon to here, the journey will be pretty comfortable - its just the early starts that kill....

Hello again from Ho Chi Minh City, where we've just returned after an overnight trip to the Mekong Delta. We are only here for the afternoon as tonight we catch the first of three overnight trains up the Vietnamese coast. Its an aspect of the trip I'm not really looking forward to, especially given the times we are due to arrive at our destinations. Tomorrow we will be arriving in the beach town of Nha Trang at 6am, which is by far the least harsh of the early ar...

Hello for the first time from Vietnam! Before I update on my first two days in Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon), I must first conclude my time in Cambodia. Our final evening in Phnom Penh was spent at the kickboxing - a definite cultural experience! The 45 minute tuk-tuk ride to the location on the outskirts of town was an experience in itself, with us once again getting caught up in Phnom Penh's crazy rush hour traffic. The venue was a randomaly located l...