Hanoi, Vietnam

May 7, 2012

As we arrived in Hanoi this morning, the rain was lashing down - the worst we've seen for a while! We got off the bus and sheltered in a shop doorway while we got our bearings. We managed to find a taxi to take us to our hotel, where they had a room ready for us even though we were very early! We checked in and then went back down to reception to book our Halong Bay tour for tomorrow morning. We managed to get a pretty good deal; we picked the 'superior' option a...

Hội An, Vietnam

May 6, 2012

After breakfast this morning, I spent a few hours finishing and sending off a job application - it's quite difficult to do in a short time frame and I think I could have done it better, but we'll see what happens! At 1pm we were picked up in a minivan and taken to the bus station for our bus to Hue, which will be followed by the sleeper bus to Hanoi. It's a longer journey than the last sleeper bus but we're hoping it will be more comfortable this time (working a...

Hội An, Vietnam

May 5, 2012

This morning, we were up early for our free breakfast at the hotel - a fantastic buffet that we definitely made the most of! Then we headed out for our day of sightseeing in Hoi An! Our first stop was the Museum of Trading Ceramics...not the most thrilling of exhibits, but it was worth going in for the house - a restored wooden building which gave us an idea of how Hoi An must have looked in the mid-nineteenth century. Next was Quan Cong Temple, which was founded...

Hội An, Vietnam

May 4, 2012

After a surprisingly OK journey on the sleeper bus, we arrived in Hoi An at around 8am. We didn't know how to get to the hotel we'd booked so we got a taxi. Unfortunately, we couldn't check into our room until noon, so we left our bags and used the free computers to look up where to go to get some clothes made which is what Hoi An is famous for. We decided to go to the place that Emma got her dress made when she came in December. Dave wrote down the name of anoth...

Nha Trang, Vietnam

May 3, 2012

Today we spent the morning packing and getting ready to leave for the long journey to Hoi An tonight. We checked out of the hotel at 12:00 and headed to a nearby cafe for lunch. I managed to pick up a cheap book for the joruney from one of the street sellers in town - they walk from restaurant to restaurant with a portable bookshelf stakced high with books. It must weigh a ton and they all carry the same books, so once you've said 'No' to one, you've said 'No' to...