hatabaga.com

Let's pick up right where we left off at Đồng Hới train station. We were en route to Huế, riding aboard Vietnam Railways train SE7 - no sleeper car required for this 4-hour leg. Coach cars on SE7 sat 4 people a row on 2-person benches, benches facing each other across small tables. The train was crowded, so much so that a few folks with no seat assignments laid mats down under the tables to sit cross-legged and cramped. We arrived in Huế around 8pm and cabbed to our homestay

The principal service run by Vietnam Railways, the state-owned operator of Vietnam’s passenger trains, is the North-South line connecting Hà Nội in the North, to Hồ Chí Minh City (HCMC) in the South. The line was built during the French colonial period, and construction of the line started more than 100 years ago ! As a result of heavy damage sustained during World War II, then the First Indochina War and the ensuing partition of the country into North and South states, train

Before our trip to Vietnam, we were not especially familiar with Vietnamese cuisine. We knew that we liked it, but could not name very many dishes, regional styles, or preparations. We did know one thing, though: We love Vietnamese phở. And we would not waste the opportunity to gorge on it. For those not familiar, phở is a Vietnamese noodle soup, made with a (typically) beef-based broth, rice noodles (called bánh phở), various herbs, spices, hot sauces, and meat (also typical

Our first post comes 12 days into our trip, from the sleepy town of Hạ Long in Northern Vietnam. Hạ Long is the capital city of Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam, and the easiest city from which to tour Hạ Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site. We will post plenty more from Vietnam, but for now we’d just like to welcome everyone to our blog. We are so excited to share our experiences from our journey, so please enjoy the photos, videos, and updates that we will be posting ! Conti