Sapa, Vietnam

Jul 22, 2012

We have 3G on Damian's phone! So, we made it through another overnight train journey! This one was a breeze compared to our last. Left Hanoi at 9.10pm last night. arriving at Sapa at 5.40am this morning. Kids slept the entire journey. We ALL had silk sleeping bags as well :-) which we all agreed made a big difference. The set up was slightly different anyway this time which made the journey in itself far easier. Sapa being such a "tourist" destination, us "...

Sapa, Vietnam

Jul 22, 2012

Here we are at our new homestay in Sapa! We have had an exhausting day walking a total of 12km in 5 hours, but with of course a break for lunch. However you couldn't really call it lunch at 3pm! We had a fabulous group of women from the Black Hmong tribe who led us around on the trek through the rice fields and made headbands, and little ornaments out of grass along the way for us. They were very sweet. I don't think I will ever forget the mind blowing view w...

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Jul 21, 2012

Alarm was set for 5.45am ready for that early morning swim before we set sail away. Hmmmm...Emma and Jake saw 3 jelly enormous fishes...we decided against jumping in! Back on the top deck sun loungers to read and take in again the beauty of the bay. 7am..Pho ga, egg, toast and fresh pineapple juice for breakfast. 7.30am.. Onto our bamboo boat again (this is clipped onto the side of the boat) and we make our way to Vong Vieng fishing village. On arrival, 5 mi...

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Jul 20, 2012

Back in wifi zone :-) Just arrived back in Hanoi again after an amazing 24 hours.. Now at Hotel swapping bags, packing clean clothes for our next leg further north to Sapa. All go! More later.... ---------------------------------------------- Posting yesterday's blog today. Day 17 and over half way through our big trip. Another earlyish start. After a hearty breakfast (no duck embryos today!) we were picked up in a mini van by Indochina Junk tours at 8.30...

Hanoi, Vietnam

Jul 19, 2012

5.20am alarm call! Anh, our walking tour guide was waiting for us in reception at 5.45. What a very different place Hanoi city is at that time in the morning! No cars, no motorbikes, just people setting up their hawker stalls for the day. It was sooo lovely to walk freely without fear of getting beeped at or risk of being run over! Anh took us down alleys, talked us through a typical routine of the daily life of a "normal" Vietnamese person. He explained how eac...