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 ...

This must be a record....two blogs in two days! We arrived in Hanoi yesterday, and are staying in a really nice hotel....kind of by accident, and kind of too much money for us... We were told to be very careful arriving by plane, as as soon as you have got your baggage you are accosted by taxi drivers offering to take you to a hotel. Even if you have a hotel booked...they have a back up plan...set up fake hotels, by the same name of the backpacker/vaguely budge...