Today we start at 07:00 and the rain that looked likely last night has hit and continues this morning. The plan for today is journey 4 hours by bus to the gorgeous Halong Bay. We check out of our hotel rooms, leave our luggage and carry only an overnight pack. We are spending the night on the bay and I can't wait. Many people have said it's an amazing place. Breakfast this morning is at the Blue Dragon foundation which supports street kids and disadvantaged kid...

Today is the day my tour officially starts. We'd all met the night before in the hotel and had dinner together, I had the best chicken and cashew nut I've ever eaten. We had a jam packed day ahead of us and first stop was a visit to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum or as the locals like to call him, Uncle Ho. We're picked up by the tour bus and driven to the mausoleum in about 10 minutes, it had taken me close to 30 when I walked it the previous day in the 37 degree hea...

My time in Bangkok ended today with an early morning flight to Hanoi. Flight time of 06:45 and being an international flight I need to be at the airport 2 hours prior. Being up before 04:00 was not pleasant however I did manage it OK. I flew Air Asia to Hanoi so it was quite cheap, about $60 Australian including 20kg of luggage. Somehow I managed to pick up about 2kg but unsure how. I didn't buy anything weighing that much. I grabbed some breakfast at the air...

Arrived in Hanoi around 08:30 and feeling alright considering I'd been up since 03:30ish. Made my way quickly to the immigration desk and joined the queue. Took around 20 minutes to get through, fingers crossed it's that quick when I arrive in Heathrow but I'm not holding my breath after the recent horror stories (e.g. 1km long, 2 hour waits). Get through to the Arrivals hall and start looking for the tourist information and ATM as I hadn't arranged transfers n...

Another early start today which was my last full day in Bangkok. My tour today was to the ancient Siam capital of Ayutthaya which is about 2 and a bit hours outside of the city. Today's driver was a little more hair raising than that of the previous day. The whole trip there and back was like a race, dodging between tuk tuks, cars and motorbikes all in an effort to get ahead of the other tour buses. There was no seatbelt so it's best to ensure you're familiar w...