That's what I've used to plot the route from here to there, but I'd like to hear more about the Vietnam stuff.
It looks kind of hellish. 
But I'm sure if we took some insect repellent and something to sleep on the dirt wouldn't be that bad. 
And it's only 11 hours anyway.
Saigon … shit; I'm still only in Saigon … Every time I think I'm gonna wake up back in the jungle. When I was home after my first tour, it was worse. I'd wake up and there'd be nothing. I hardly said a word to my wife, until I said "yes" to a divorce. When I was here, I wanted to be there; when I was there, all I could think of was getting back into the jungle. I'm here a week now … waiting for a mission … getting softer; every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker, and every minute Charlie squats in the bush, he gets stronger. Each time I looked around, the walls moved in a little tighter.
I hope that helps.
Thanks Minnie.
I love the idea of taking the train from here to there. And it's half the price of flying. They can't be much worse than Indian sleeper trains surely?
I strongly recommend sending an email home to your friends and family composed entirely of quotes from Apocalypse Now while you're there. Reactions were varied: my mates were of the opinion that the opium had finally got the better of me and my Mum thought I'd gone completely mental.
I dunno. Are they very bad? The dude on Seat 61 does sayIt's only 11 hours! Oh, 13. But still.
Looks quite similar from that link of Minnie's. It'd be a good laugh I bet. I don't think I could handle 36 hours all the way down South but 13 hrs should be alright, I would've thought. Is it easy enough to get over the border from your way then?
I've seen a couple in India. Second class sleeper. It sounds like they've got a few mod cons like air con and whatnot so I doubt it'd be the train from hell. The photos of the 'dirty toilet' just looked like standard Asian train bogs to me. I reckon it'd be a great journey - people selling you food and stuff while you take in views like the above, chatting with the locals and all that. I loved Indian trains for this - I think this would be pretty similar.Yeah, he makes it sound idyllic! But then almost everyone on Minnie's tripadvisor link seem to be utterly traumatised. I don't remember cockroaches on the trains in India.
We did take second class sleeper in India but obviously we went to the pharmacy first so slept really well. 
It's an opportunity I don't want to miss, how often do you get the chance to make such a long and beautiful journey, and the prices are much lower than flying.
I am led to believe that similar sleeping aids are available in Vietnam.We did take second class sleeper in India but obviously we went to the pharmacy first so slept really well.
Yes! We can go from here to Beijing, then to Nanning which is down south and then get a special sleeper to Hanoi, then the train from hell down to Nha Trang.
Yeah, he makes it sound idyllic! But then almost everyone on Minnie's tripadvisor link seem to be utterly traumatised. I don't remember cockroaches on the trains in India.
At the pharmacy? Lhasa may be another trip. I always look at the location of people who post on Trip Advisor. If they're Americans or Singaporeans, I tend to ignore them. You only need to look on something like Fodor's Forum to see the type of things that upset some delicate Americans, ie. no sheet underneath duvets, no mixer taps etc. (Of course, there are people like this the world over, but these little things particularly upset the Americans)
Apparently cockroaches hate catnip, so I could buy some catnip spray and cover my bunk in it. 
My friends are doing the trans siberian this summer from here to Europe and I was well, well jel of that too. craigxcraig I am enjoying reading your blog, thanks so much! And Lazy Llama I would be really grateful for a suggestion of a place in Hanoi of reasonable price, if you have one, just in case we can't face making the fourth leg of the journey consecutively and need a break on dry land. Thank you. 
