First of all, I would just like to say…Dad, don't kill me (just remember I am alive and that's all that matters!!) We spent the last 7 days on the back of a motorbike(!!) traveling round central and south Vietnam. It kind of happened by accident, and turned out to be the best thing we have done so far(although a bit impulsive!) We were having lunch on our first full day in Dalat, and planning on going to a tour agency to book a 3 day 2 night trekking tour at...

Nha Trang was our next stop, and another overnight bus journey. It was better than previous ones, but I still had to put with the driver smoking right in front of me. He'd symbolically opened his window but all it did was to blow the smoke back in. I think I managed all of about 3 hours sleep on the 12 hour journey. We'd learnt from last time and taken food with us, as well as having dinner just before we left Hoi An. We had Pringles, plain biscuits and dried gin...

After a much safer/smoother day bus journey, we arrived in Hoi An. We had heard this is a highlight of a trip to Vietnam, so we were really looking forward to it. We were a bit concerned when we got dropped off at our hotel in yet another ridiculously touristy area of town full of bars and hotels and not much else, but after a short walk to the old historical area we had changed our minds within minutes and knew we would want to spend longer here already. The old...

We had booked an open-tour bus ticket for all of our travelling around Vietnam, we came to only 25 pounds each...we have since come to realise why...I came off the first bus swearing never to set foot on one again. Inside was made up of three rows of metal bunk beds, there was a frantic free for all to get beds near each other, which we managed, but right at the back on the top bunk. The drivers in vietnam are manic, none will sit patiently behind another vehicle...

We are back in Hanoi at the Ritz after our 2 nights at Halong Bay. We had opted to go for a 3 day/2 night tour that took you to Halong Bay from Hanoi in a mini bus, took you out on a boat called a junk where we would sail/kayak/swim around the bay and go on one of the islands. It cost in total $69, so GBP30 and that included all our meals, a night on the boat and a night in a hotel on Cat Ba Island at the far end of the bay. Halong Bay is made up of thousands ...