The somewhat-ironically named Sleeper Train from Saigon to Nha Trang

Lying on the bunk, the swaying carriage tries its hardest to ride out the bumps and lumps in the 100 year old track between Saigon and Nha Trang. We've been underway an hour, and the wise heads among us have dossed down, earplugs in place, anticipating our 5am arrival. The more enthusiastic parts of the crew, in the cabin next door, are into the vodka and coke.

The bunk is wider than the "window" of the Cu Chi tunnel we were in earlier today, a good 20cm wider. It may be 6ft long, but I'm guessing more like 5'10". No complaints though, this is first class. Saw the 2nd class chairs on the way through to the dining car.....they're about as glamorous as the dining car isn't.

Sleeping arrangements have busted up the previous groupings. Liz and Paul are seasoned: serious trampers who know when to hop into your tent/sleeping bag and ride it out.

Morning has broken. Reports from the night are that each time anyone awoke we were stationary, presumably as other more important trains passed us on the single-track line. We're informed that the delays were because another train "died" and had to be removed. Other reports indicate that it was bloody freezing on the top bunks, right next to the air conditioner outlet that can't be closed or otherwise manually controlled. Regardless, sleep was found - at least a little.

The countryside has changed markedly, with hills of interesting shapes flanking either side of the train, it finally feels like we've found that Vietnamese landscape that features in tourist ads. At 7am (ETA was 5.30am), Nha Trang awaits.