We arrived in Hanoi on Tuesday morning from Hoi An via a cheap one-hour JetStar Pacific flight (train-$60; death bus-$25; flight-$40). Despite being less populated than Saigon (~12mil), Hanoi (~8 mil) has a much more frenetic, crowded, and busy feeling, especially in the old quarter where every step taken without getting hit by anything/anyone feels like a battle victory. The sounds, smells, and sights are everything you imagine Indochina to be – more so than anywhere we’ve visited thus far …

We arrived in Hoi An on Wednesday night via a 1 hour flight from Saigon to Danang and a 30-minute taxi ride (the nearest train station and airport to Hoi An are in Danang – the cab ride is about USD $16 – though there are supposedly buses during the day). It is advertised as the most charming city in Vietnam with its river-side location, French colonial architecture, friendly population, and beach resorts. We were skeptical – these types of …

I’m a little late on this post since we’ve already been in Viet Nam (I’m going local) for 1.5 weeks, but mark that as a testament to how much fun we’re having. Our journey from Cambodia on Thursday the 18th was neither our least nor most interesting border crossing experience. Our shuttle bus from Kep took us to the border and dropped us off – we then rode a different shuttle bus (but coordinating companies) to Ha Tien to catch …