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Back in Hanoi the girls checked themselves into their first dormitory of the trip. Inspired by Patrick and the boat gang we all headed into the city to find ourselves a new traveling companion - having only walked meters from our hostel we spotted him hanging on the wall of an old bric-a-brac shop; Pat the guitar. Me and the girls carried Pat around the city looking at the sights and sampling some of Hanoi's finest cuisine; kebabs and pizza. Despite being filthy dirty, out of tune and the girls not knowing a chord Pat started to work his magic instantly with the locals and travelers alike approaching us about our new companion. What with mine and Pats pulling powers, teamed with the girls 'intoxicating' and hilarious qualities we'll all make an unstoppable team - watch out world!

We all had a celebratory/ welcome beverage before hitting the sack (not before Pat woke up the rest of the dorm falling over!).

After a good nights sleep in the dorm we were awoken early by the smell of bacon and got up to start the hectic day of sight seeing ahead. Having realized the schedule was tighter than ever and a flight is the same price as the train, the girls decided to forfeit central Vietnam and booked a flight to Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) leaving that night.

Having made it no further than the doorstep of the hostel on the way to our sight seeing extravaganza our plans were thwarted by a friendly gentleman advising us that the Ho Chi Min mausoleum wasn't open today. Zoe was devastated - how was she to know that he was really dead if she couldn't poke him?! We immediately changed our flights to the next day - who said the traveling life was an easy one?!

First stop on the list of sights was now Ho Lao Prison - used originally by the French to detain, torture and kill the Vietnamese and later by the North Vietnamese to detain captured US pilots during the American War (Including John McCain). The prison told the story of the horrendous conditions and torture inflicted on the Vietnamese prisoners and the contrasting pleasantries that the US soldiers were granted. Truth or propaganda - you decide.

The afternoon saw a lighter side of the Vietnamese history with a visit to the Temple of Literature - where the countries finest scholars studied, set in beautiful temples and surrounding gardens.

On our last night in Hanoi it seemed rude not to head to the corner selling 12p beer and meet some new friends - including a supposed rock star who had previously written a song about a girl called Zoe which he serenaded us with - if only we had bought Pat out to play! The girls introduced me to Daniel the 'rock star' and I was surprised at the uncanny resemblance his own teeth had to me (see photo when added)! It could have been that we were separated at birth!

The next day, excited about seeing Úncle Ho' the girls were up and out early heading for the mausoleum. Surviving their first Vietnamese motorbike taxi ride (Ze won this time whilst Kathryn was behind crushing her driver with her thighs and scared for her life!) they arrived and joined the queue and shuffled past the dimly lit body of Ho Chi Min. A very strange experience for us all - he is definitely dead!