Top 5 Sleeper Train Tips for SE Asia

I've always enjoyed travelling by train but my adventures in South East Asia this year have sparked an even deeper love for this mode of transport. Sleeper trains were one of my favourite new discoveries and unlike in the UK they're actually a really affordable way to take a long journey. Each and every journey was an adventure, from sharing a first class cabin together en route from Trang to Bangkok to our fitful nights sleep in a cockroach filled carriage in-between Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City.

My very favourite train experience took place between Bangkok and Chiang Mai; Nick and I were in a four berth cabin shared with Alana, a vegetarian from the US who was taking a break from teaching in China, and a Chinese man who was travelling with, from what we could gather, his entire extended family. Things got off to an amusing start after we all turned down his pork snacks and it was down to Alana to use her intermediate Mandarin to explain why... much hilarity ensued after he assumed we were vegetarian "for Jesus" and we had to try to explain, through the use of animal and heart emojis, that no, we just really love animals. As the evening progressed Nick and his new friend got closer and he explained, again through Alana, that he thought Nick was very attractive and that he liked his hair very much... after a short pause Alana translated that it was because Nick's hair reminded him of a horse's mane. Brilliant.

Ridiculous experiences aside the added bonus of taking a night train as opposed to a day train is that you're getting your accommodation for the night included in the price of your travels which is super helpful if you're adventuring on a budget. If you're thinking of exploring SE Asia by train (and I strongly suggest that you do) here are my Top 5 Tips to help you on your way...

1. Book ahead if possible. Everything I read before leaving for my trip made me think that hopping on a sleeper train that night would be easy as long as it isn't high season and that's not quite the case. On more than one occasion Nick and I rocked up at the station the day before we'd planned to take the train to buy our tickets only to find we'd need to wait a couple more nights or take a day train. Booking ahead is especially important if you have a preference for the type of carriage (be that first or second) and if you want to be seated close to each other.
2. Use Seat 61 to plan your journey. Seat 61 is an amazingly in depth website which will help you work out not only the train timetables and costs but also which type of train you're likely to be travelling on. Will you be sharing a four berth compartment with a door or will you be in a more open carriage? This site can tell ya and as someone who likes to have at least some idea what they're getting into it's a super helpful resource. The more open carriages have smaller upper bunks which seemed to me like they were rocking around more than the bunks in the four berth compartments. I'd recommend booking two lower bunks if the carriage is more open as otherwise you may be woken regularly as you get thrown around... those straps in the picture above probably aren't going to stop you landing on the ground if you do roll outa bed in the night! It will also help you work out which seat numbers are together, if the trains are four berth cabin style you and your travel companion probably don't want seats four and five!
3. Dress warm...or for the beach. Thai sleeper trains are air conditioned to the max whilst Vietnamese sleeper train air con is completely ineffective. If you're getting an overnight train in Thailand I am not kidding when I tell you to dress warm. I bundled myself up in my long trousers, a t shirt, a hoodie, a scarf, socks and a sleeping bag liner and I was still cold. In Vietnam I was boiling in my long trousers and a t and wished that there had been a curtain so that I could've slipped into some shorts!
4. Pack an eye mask and earplugs. You will end up in a carriage with a snorer or a crying baby (or both!) and nope, you can't turn out the lights.
5. Take snacks. As a vegan I always have snacks on hand and this is especially important when you're on a train where the meals offered are far from suitable. If you're starting your journey in a city like Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Ho Chi Minh City it's ridiculously easy to grab some take out snacks for your journey. Elsewhere that tupperware you packed (you did pack a tupperware right?!) will be your best friend, just grab an extra meal, some rice and curry perhaps, from wherever your having lunch. Don't get Pho or Hot Pot, you don't wanna be eating an overflowing tupperware of soup on a moving train, trust me.

Vegan on the Road: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City was to be our final stop in Vietnam and it was a little bittersweet. Nick and I were both excited about heading back to Thailand but sad that we'd missed out on visiting some of the places we wanted to check out in Vietnam (Sapa, Dalat) because my getting sick for 10 days followed by Nick spending two days throwing up kinda threw off our plans. The heat was also getting to me (totally my fault for visiting at a silly time of year!) and whilst I understand that people are probably staring at me and pointing and grabbing me because they find me interesting it was definitely taking it's toll. It even made me miss Brighton where nobody even looks twice at me. Still we hopped off the sleeper train with a positive mindset ready to explore. As always when I know I'll be arriving in a new city with no way of getting online (or so I thought, it turns out that Ho Chi Minh station has surprisingly fast free wifi) I'd screen shotted the locations and details of a few vegan friendly spots within walking distance so off we went.

Quan 85 is about a 20 minute walk from the station and there's no menu to speak of, not one that we could find / read anyway. Confusingly I also couldn't spot the name Quan 85 anywhere despite definitely being in the right spot - here's what you're looking for.

After consulting with a clever translation app on his phone the guy in charge told us that it's a vegan restaurant and asked if we'd like to eat rice. Asking if you'd like to eat rice / soup seems to be a common theme in casual Vietnamese cafe's and I like it! We were presented with a plate of rice, veggies, mock meat and tofu with a side of purple soup.

Of course my clever translation app explaining that I can't eat chilli did not get the message across and Nick and I had to move things back and forth so that I ended up with a plate of rice, potatoes and green beans and he ended up with a plate of rice spicy tofu, spicy mock meat and intensely spicy cabbage. I also took one for the team and drank both cold purple soups (that reminded me of the scene with the blue soup in Bridget Jones' Diary) because I know Nick does't love a spice onslaught at breakfast and he hates weird coloured soup more than I do.

Our meal was ridiculously cheap and the guy there was lovely. If you're looking for a super authentic Vietnamese dining experience in Ho Chi Minh city this is definitely somewhere you should swing by.

Another great local spot was Pho Chay Nhu which was located down an alleyway around the corner from our hotel. We both had the Pho after confirming that we like soup and it was delicious enough that we are there more than once.

To take a break from exploring in the heat we stopped at Starbucks. I hate Starbucks but I will patronise them when I'm in countries where vegan soy milk is hard to find. So, I basically boycott S'bux in Europe and the US but I will go there in Asia if I can't find another option. My ethics confuse me too but I think it's a fair stance and I'm sticking by it. This was without a shadow of a doubt the worst matcha soy latte I've ever had which is weird because I thought that the whole point of Starbucks is that they're consistent and they have wifi. The guy who made it loved my hair and wrote Ms Pink on my cup though so I'll let him off.

Of course we managed a spot of sightseeing. This is Saigon Notre Dame... It's not as impressive as the one in Paris but quite fun anyway. It's also opposite the Saigon Central Post Office which, as well as being a famous landmark, is also a working post office.

More Pho was soon in order and we went to Dieu Phap Chay, another simple noodle spot, where we were looked after by the owner who, upon spotting two clueless westerners, jumped up and explained all of the different soup / noodle / veggie combos we could go for in perfect English. I went for a more Chinese influenced bowl of Pho with thick noodles and tofu whilst Nick went for something more traditionally southern with mock meat.

Whilst we were eating I spotted a steamer full of buns and jumped all over that as soon as I was done with my Pho. They were filled with peppery veggies and mushrooms and were pretty darn delicious despite being a touch over-steamed.

Nick insisted that we check out the Bitexo Tower because he has some kinda weird obsession with going up the tallest building in every city never mind whether it's actually important or famous or not. I particularly enjoyed the display suggesting that this is one of the ten most iconic buildings in the world. Oddly the Eiffel Tower was nowhere to be seen on that list! I amused myself taking mirrored roof selfies whilst Nick gazed out of the dirty windows.

To cleanse myself from this boring (but totes iconic obvs) building I chose the next spot and we visited a museum of propaganda posters. It's really a shop of course and everything is for sale. I was sad that there weren't any postcard sized images because I obviously can't justify buying art right now but I can always justify postcards.

That night we hit the jackpot restaurant wise when we discovered the biggest shiniest Loving Hut in the whole entire world. Located on Huynh Khuong Ninh right by the park and down the street from their previous (smaller) location I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. This place has a chandelier FFS! We were greeted by the loveliest people who spoke amazing English and I knew immediately that I would be able to communicate my allergies and end up with a meal I could definitely eat. I was ravenous so this was exciting! We started with fancy juices and me explaining to Nick that no the stirrers were not upside down they were just decorative, something he still can't wrap his head around today.

We'd just been talking about how we hadn't had a sit down meal with more than one course for a suuuper long time and this Loving Hut had an extra bonus - air con! We went to town with the ordering and grabbed some Spring Rolls and the Deep Fried Chicken to start.

The deep fried chicken turned out to be chicken nuggets which I was excited and nervous about. I haven't eaten a chicken nugget (a vegan chicken nugget, that should go without saying really!) since I got gastro on the same day I'd eaten a whole box of Fry's nuggets sometime in early 2014 but these were differently textured and I was pleased to be back ontop of my nugget game - they're definitely one of my favourite comfort foods so it's nice to have them back in my life. I was enamoured with the spring rolls too especially becuase they came with lettuce to wrap around them and a fun non-spicy dipping sauce.

I went for the Pak Choi with Black Mushrooms as my main course and Nick opted for the Braised Gluten with Coconut Juice and we shared a side of steamed rice.

Normally I'm anti anything coconut water related and coconut juice sounded suspicious to me but apparently if you mix coconut juice / water with deep fry it becomes acceptable again. Nick had made a great ordering decision and suddenly I was up for sharing! My main was pretty great too and it complimented Nick's mock meaty choice perfectly.

I'd chosen a small main course because it looked like there were a lot of desserts to choose from including both chocolate and matcha ice creams and flan so I wanted to make sure I left space given that I hadn't eaten a dessert since Hanoi. As it turned out they were out of every single dessert except for coconut ice cream (why dont people tell you what they've run out of when they give you the menu? Total pet peeve!) so we skipped it and decided to see if there was anything delicious and sweet to nibble on in their store upstairs.

We weren't expecting much, shelves of dried mock meats and maybe some cake slices but the store turned out to be a place of joy and wonder! We hadn't seen any imported vegan treats (except for the accidental kind) since England. I tried super hard to restrain myself (for budget reasons, if I had all of the cash I would have bought all of the sugar treats) and I think I did okay given that I was faced with all of this and more!

They also had Daiya, Tofurky roasts, things from the Whole Foods 365 range and staples like canned tomatoes and olive oil. In the end we picked up a slice of cake, a couple of Sjaak's Almond Butter Bites and an Eli's Earth Bar.

I love Eli's Earth Bars, which I totally didn't realise were made by Sjaak's until right this second, and grab one whenever I get the chance. I'm not quite familiar enough with the range yet to have a favourite but the Treasure Bar sure is amazing. It's full of peanut butter crunchy stuff and caramel and it reminded me a little of the PB Sea Salt Caramel Gelato from Boho in Brighton but less sweet and with chocolate. Perfect. I've been a big fan of Sjaack's, despite having no idea how to pronounce the brand name, since I first picked up some of their PB Bites at the fantastic Vegan Haven in Seattle. The Almond Butter bites didn't seem as delicious as I remembered the peanut butter ones being but I am 100% sure it was because they were being stored in a bowl with the Sjaack's Mint Chocolates. Mint ruins everything. Never store anything with mint! The cake was, to be polte, peculiar. It was cheesecake-esque which made me take a pass after one bite but after eating the whole thing Nick couldn't tell me what flavour it was, he just described it as not unpleasant but not something to re-purchase. Do try it for yourself if you swing by, I'd love your opinion!

We enjoyed our meal at Loving Hut so much that we went back the next day so that we could try more of their vast menu. This time we started with some Deep Fried Fish and followed that with some stir fried greens, the Braised Vegan Chicken with Ginger and the Barbecue Chicken with Steamed Rice.

The deep fried fish was obviously a win because I love faux fish so freaking much and if you batter something in a crisp batter and deep fry it perfectly so that it's not dripping in oil I will rave about it. The braised vegan chicken with ginger was a solid choice and I was pleased that there was mock meat mixed into my stir fried greens. It was super tasty too and I wondered if it might be the same stuff that went into the braised gluten we'd tried the day before but cooked differently. The barbecue chicken was flavoured with five spice and whilst I really enjoyed it because the mock meat was really tender and juicy I wished that it'd been a little saucier.

After taking a LH break and re-visiting the place with the great Pho and steamed buns a couple of times we hit up Loving Hut for our last meal in Vietnam because I just had to eat the braised gluten in coconut juice one more time. We also got some Fried Okra with Roasted Garlic and a plate of mock meat intriguingly titled Veggie Scrap Salty.

Obviously the gluten was amazing again and I was so glad that I tried the garlicky okra because it was definitely my fave out of the three veggie dishes I tried there. I'd highly recommend it if you're a fellow garlic lover. The Veggie Scrap Salty wasn't that salty but it was a huge plate of crisp fried mock meat scraps which was ridiculously moorish. Despite being full about halfway through the plate neither of us could stop nibbling.

This Loving Hut is definitely more expensive than any of the other places we checked out in Ho Chi Minh City or, to be honest, most of the places we ate in Vietnam but it has a more high end feel (in a kind of amazingly tacky but brilliant way) and the food was great so I think it's totally worth the extra expense. Also the shop located just above it is brilliant, we grabbed a couple more Eli's Earth Bars for our flight to Bangkok and they were the perfect thing to nibble on when everyone else around us was enjoying their in flight meal.

Ho Chi Minh City is amazingly vegan friendly, the list of all vegan places on Happy Cow is epic so you're guaranteed some great eats wherever you base yourself in the city.

Vegan Adventuring in Nha Trang // A Love Story Between Me and A Sandwich

Nha Trang ended up being a weird one for me; I'd planned a stop there on my travels down the coast of Vietnam because I'd heard that the beaches were great but it was super windy the whole time I was in town which meant that the beach was a total no-go. The waves were crazy high (like Brighton in mid winter) and the wind was whipping up the sand which is always a less than fun experience. Because I couldn't book Nick and I onto an earlier train we had to make the most of our three days in town and so we decided to try as many of Nha Trang's vegan eateries as possible. Our first stop was Bo De where we immediately delved into some steamed buns. 

Now I love steamed buns every which way, faux bbq pork, crispy veggies and beans, mushrooms... any variation that I've tried I've loved. These were no exception which was extra great because Nick doesn't like veggies in a bun so I got to eat both of them. Score! 

They were perfection, perfectly steamed dough, crisp peppery vegetables and to top it off they cost 8000 VND / 25p / 37¢. Complete madness. It blew my mind how cheap the vegan food in Vietnam was. We also tried the Pho which was excellent (and stupidly cheap of course) and I couldn't resist and side of salt and pepper tofu which was delicious but you can't really go wrong with deep fried tofu, salt and pepper. 

The second stop on our foodie tour of the city was Banh Mi Chay, a little veggie banh mi stand at the side of the road near the beach. This is also where the tour stopped because I basically fell in love with this sandwich and ate it for every single meal until we had to leave. 

The bread itself was perfectly light and crispy due to it being made with a mix of wheat and rice flours and it was stuffed full of so much deliciousness that it made me question why on earth I'd never eaten a banh mi before. First the bread is spread with the banh mi sauce which is kinda like a spicy hoisin, then in go lettuce, crunchy pickled veggies and plenty of coriander followed by strips of cucumber and sliced tomato and finally four kinds of fake meat - a wheaty faux pork, a wheaty faux chicken and some kinda baked soy loaf and then a handful of crisp, sweet sesame soy protein.

I am absolutely not exaggerating when I say that this was the best sandwich of my life and damn, I've had some good sandwiches (The Picard and this Croque Monsieur spring to mind) in my time on this planet! I, of course, had to omit the flavourful sauce once I realised what was going on with it's spice level but this was still the most excellent sandwich in the world. I would not eat a terrible sandwich six times in two days. I would also have bought all of her crispy soy protein and eaten it with a spoon because OMG it was the absolute best. 

If you're ever in Vietnam I would urge you to get to Banh Mi Chay and buy yourself a sandwich or six. They're vegan by default although the stall does have butter and cheese available. The lovely woman running this place doesn't eat that stuff though so if you need an extra push to make the journey to Nha Trang go and support a rad vegan making rad sandwiches. Oh and the sandwich costs 10,000 VND / 31p / 46¢ which, although we paid more each time (this sandwich has to be worth at least £1 of any western travellers money), my mind is still officially blown that you can get an outstanding sandwich for so little cash.

Two thumbs up!

Between sandwiches and despite the beach being a bust we did manage to find some fun things to do to entertain ourselves in-between sandwiches. We visited two excellent photography galleries, DDK Black and White Art Photo Gallery and Long Thonh Art Gallery. The photographers were present at both as they're work / gallery spaces which was cool. I liked getting a little peek into the life of a pro photographer. If I had more disposable income or any walls I would have loved to invest in some amazing photographs of Vietnam but those aren't the life decisions I'm making right now and I already have enough art waiting for me in storage. We also passed some time at the pool on the roof of our hotel and with a spot of ten pin bowling. We would have checked out the cinema but the only thing on was Fast and Furious 7 and no, just no.

Nha Trang will be a must visit spot for me when I re-visit Vietnam one day, that sandwich was just so, so great that I'm going to have to eat it again. Luckily my friend Liz from Cooking the Vegan Books claims to have managed to whip up a version of The Sandwich in her own kitchen after also falling for it during her time in Nha Trang. I hope to be availing myself of the recipe next time I have a kitchen and decent stockpile of ingredients to work with!

Vegans Explore Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An is part world heritage site and part beach holiday destination which, for me, is a pretty damned great combination. After getting sick in Hanoi, mainly exploring cities on the way down the coast and a couple of back to back travel days, I chose An Bang beach as our first stop in Hoi An. I was in need of some maxin' and relaxin' and I'd read that it was the quieter and prettier of the two beach options. We took the free bikes offered to us at the hotel and rode a slightly challenging 3km to the beach. Cycling, or even walking, on Vietnamese roads is always a challenge because traffic lights seem to be more of a suggestion than a rule and if the place somebody's going is on the other side of the road than the one they're technically meant to be driving on then that's the route they'll be taking. To add a little more fun to our journey there was also some road resurfacing going on which meant cycling on a single lane gravel track for about 1/2km which was definitely challenging. Needless to say we arrived at the beach suuuuper ready to relax.

After a few hours lying on the sand engrossed in a book (this one if you're interested) and hopping into the water to cool off occasionally dusk started creeping across the sky and we decided it was probably best to leave rather than to end up cycling home in the dark. It would also have been a shame to miss these gorgeous dusk views.

Hunger soon struck and we decided to check out the Hoi An branch of Karma Waters. Despite having a hankering for another of their hot dogs I decided Pho would be a better bet. Whilst it was good it wasn't anywhere near as good as either the hot dog or the bowls of Pho we'd been dining on at backstreet veg places during the preceding weeks.

We also tried the banana pancakes, a ubiquitous snack amongst other egg and dairy eating travellers, which we were yet to try. We were left almost wishing that we hadn't because they were quite solid and whilst the mango jam perked them up they definitely weren't a fave'. They definitely looked like the ones we'd seen at non-vegan street stalls in Hoi An though so they were good in that they made us stop wondering whether we were missing out.

The breakfast at the Vaia Hotel where we were staying was okay, bread, jam and juice followed by a fruit plate. I should't really complain because the bread was excellent but I was usually starving about two hours later and I definitely wished I hadn't run outa peanut butter!

The beach had been so great the day before that after scoping out the weather forecast we decided to go back and get our lounge on for a full day. We took a picnic of crackers, peanut butter, seaweed snacks, Oreo's and fruit, splashed out on some sun loungers and spent the day skipping in and out of the waves. Perfection.

Again we headed back before dusk because of the scary cycling sitch' but that meant we hit the hotel just in time for happy hour where all guests get a free mojito or glass of sangria. Fun!

After our slightly disappointing dinner at Karma Waters the previous night we decided to find somewhere a little more authentic for our evening meal. We took a walk to Tam Quang Minh and said yes when they asked us if we liked to eat soup. 

Saying yes was such a great decision because these steaming bowls of Pho were some of the most delicious I've eaten in Vietnam. Fake meat, super flavourful broth, loads of herbs and lime. Yum.

We went back the next day and they asked if we liked rice... of course we said yes again. This wasn't quite as delicious as the Pho but as it cost around £1 for both of our meals I wouldn't even consider complaining. The mock meats were wonderful, one had a delicious sweet and sticky sauce and the other was kinda caramelised and had a little crunch to it. I would totally eat whole platefuls of both! I also enjoyed both mine and Nick's aubergine whilst he ate both portions of spicy cabbage. Teamwork!

Feeling suitably relaxed by a couple of back to back beach days we decided to get up early on our third morning to set about some proper sightseeing. Hoi An's old town is delightfully charming. The gorgeous French colonial style buildings sit side by side with Japanese edo era architecture which is a contrast that I loooove.

Apparently this is the only Japanese bridge in the world that has a Buddhist temple halfway across. It's also guarded at one end by a pair of dog statues and at the other by a pair of monkey statues - cute.

In fact everything about Hoi An is cute, the buildings, the lanterns, this puppy...

We took advantage of our hotel's free bicycles again during our days exploring the old town and we headed out in the morning during the hours when it becomes a walking and cycling only area. This is a wonderful idea that I think almost any city could implement and it would add to the joy of exploring. Being able to cycle or walk without worrying that I'd be knocked over by a scooter at any moment made it much more fun although of course dawdling tour groups made cycling without a bell amusing / mildly irritating.

We refuelled with juice at riverside spot Fusion Cafe more than once during our explorations, it was definitely a good people watching spot and the apple, lime and mint juice was excellent. I think that juice combo might be one of my favourite discoveries of the trip, it's a little like a non-alcoholic mojito.

One place I was excited to dine at was Minh Hein Vegetarian which was excitingly within cycling distance of the old town. Minh Hein is probably Hoi An's most famous veggie spot. They make veganised versions of a lot of traditional dishes including Cao Lau, a regional noodle, (faux) pork and greens dish, and White Rose. 

White Rose are dumplings so-called because they look like white roses and whilst they usually contain shrimp or pork these were, of course, the vegan version. I also ordered the fried aubergine with garlic and Nick ordered a spicy tofu dish because it's literally the only way to stop me stealing his food! I kid. Kinda.

The fried aubergine with garlic also came with peanuts and no chilli which I was happy about - communication win. The aubergines in both Vietnam and Laos really are melt in your mouth delicious and I feel like despite there being so many different types and cooking methods aubergine dishes are always the ones I end up loving the most. The White Rose was tasty but I didn't ask for it without chilli because I'd read that the dipping sauce comes on the side, that's not the case at Minh Hien so after one delicious nibble I had to pass them over to Nick to polish off.

We also grabbed an order of Bánh Xèo to share because ever since Cici introduced us to them in Hanoi they've been up there with our favourite Vietnamese dishes. This version could have been better if the wrappers had been soaked properly but they were on the crunchy side which made them challenging to use.

Despite their slightly disappointing Bánh Xèo I would highly recommend visiting Minh Hien for their veganised local classics like White Rose, Cao Lau or anything with aubergine.

On our last night we finally made it to An Nhu Quan Chay which I'd heard about from Caryl and Paul at Vegan Food Quest who recommended the hot pot. Never one to deviate from a personal recommendation we dove right in.

The Hot Pot was filled to the brim with mushrooms, silken tofu, tomatoes, mushrooms and more mushrooms. I loved it. I was also pleased to see that it came with the fermented tofu that I'd fallen for in Hue. We threw in handfuls of greens and I ate far more than my half of the fermented tofu. I really wish I was eating this right now. I'm eating grapes. They aren't as good. I just added this spot to Happy Cow so that other veggies visiting Hoi An should be able to find it and eat delicious hot pot too!