Good morning Vietnam. HCMC to Hanoi and beyond, a budget photography adventure including trains temples and rice terraces.
On this travel adventure I took the Unification Express train from south Vietnam to the north, stopping at key locations for some photography, aerials and time lapse’s 😉
Some time in HCMC meeting up with a printer for a new photography project on the temples of Cambodia. The city is enjoyable for a few days, however, I was keen to get going as my passion lies in the open roads and landscapes of awesome Vietnam.
- 6am train HCMC to Thap Cham, 300km, $10 soft seat.
An early morning walk to the station, street vendors setting up on route. I had time for quick and excellent ice coffee before boarding the reunification express train. At 6am we are off on time. As the train starts it’s journey, passengers are greeted to the national anthem. The train is fully booked. Going over the central highlands above HCMC was a bit fresh for shorts and a teeshirt. 6 hours later I arrive in Thap Cham.
Thap Cham has a few Cham tower temples, salt fields, some wind farms and a nice fishing village. Plenty of photographic opportunities, but the misty weather was not on my side. I tried to book a seat on the train for the following day, but it was full. Lesson one, book your train ticket a few days in advance. I also purchased tickets from the train station, which seemed cheaper than any I found on line.
- Thap Cham – Quy Nanh (Dien Tri train station) 300km $19 sleeper ( no soft seats available)
Out of all the places I stoped, Qyy Nanh was my favourite. The town is a 20 min drive from Dien Tri train station. It’s is nicley located by the sea with an abundance of coffee shops and some western food options. The near by Cham towers are, in my opinion, the best in Vietnam. Temples such as Phu Loc, Canh Tien and Banh It Cham sit on hills and can be seen form distance. The towers tended to have decorative tops, different in style and stature to the Cham temples found in Cambodia.
The coast line here has many long golden sand beaches, home to Cham fishing villages, fishing boats and the iconic round coracles.
Duong Long Cham towers. Can you see me? These magnificent structures are said to be 24m high, however, according to my drone controller, the aircraft over 30m when level with the top.
- Dieu Tri to Danang 310km $14 6hrs
8.17am train for the 6+hr journey gives me time for breakfast and gets me to Danang early afternoon.
Danang is quite a large place. I hired a motorbike from a place conveniently placed next to the train station and headed to My Khe beach area. There are plenty of western eateries and bars here, giving that holiday destination feel. It’s location makes an ideal stop for My Son temple complex and Ba Na Hills.
Some fun with my insta360 on the bridges of Da Nang
- My Son
A charming Cham temple complex one hour from Danang or Hoi An, Vietnam. There’s a scattering of red brick temples in different states of repair. For scale, there is no comparison to the temples of Angkor, but if you are passing through they are well worth a visit.
Tickets are 150,000 vnd. From the ticket office it’s a short walk to an electric buggy which takes you 2km to a restaurant / shop. From there it’s another 400m to the ruins.
The temples are a different decorative styles to those of Angkor. There were plenty of tik tok selfie takers, which seems to be the norm at any attraction these days. For the photographer, a couple of hours early or late in the day should be sufficient. No drones and no night photography.
- Da Nang to Hanoi 791km, 1384000 vnd, around $55 soft sleeper
At 16 hours, the trip from Da Nang to Hanoi is the longest of my trip. I opted for a 4 berth sleeper bottom bunk, which seemed to be a far more convenient option than any bunk that requires climbing into.
According to locals, the front of the train is preferable, less shake (same like a bus) and closer to the food cabin, which is at the front of the train. For this journey I took my own food supplies from a french bakery in Da Nang.
The scenery was prity good from Da Nang to Hue, the train track cutting through hills via tunnels and bridges. Then it was flat rice fields until hilly Karst type landscape started towards Dong Hoi as darkness fell.
6am the train arrived in Hanoi, where I venture to one of my favourite banh mi breakfast spots, then onto the motorbike hire shop for the second part on my Vietnamese adventure.
Part 2 of this awesome adventure, rice terraces!