We arrived back in Hanoi around lunch time and hit a local cafe for lunch and my first bowl of pho bo, or beef soup! Hurrah! We then headed off for a walk around the city and saw the lake, opera house and lots and lots of scooters. It was still bloody cold so I decided to buy some warmer clothes and we headed back to hotel to relax then change for the nights festivities! We headed to a water puppet show which we had heard wasn't the best from some friends. We ...

Good morning Vietnam....! It's bloody freezing and raining, lucky I bought my beanie!! We head out of Hanoi for today to Halong Bay, it's about 175km north west. Due to quality of roads it will be about a 4hr trip. Thank god our driver is good cause the roads are busy and a little crazy. Out of Hanoi they are a little quieter. It's a single lane road where most motor bikes keep far right (they drive on right side here), then slow vehicles then anything else ove...

We have arrived in Hanoi! Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and a stark contrast to sleepy Laos! There are 90mil people in vietnam and around 10mil in Hanoi! The traffic here is really different. The rules are... There are no rules! No one gives way to anyone, overtaking is common and if you want to cross the street you kind of just have to go! Scooters and motorbikes are everywhere, talk about hectic. All buildings are concrete and a bit bland looking. Most buil...

Today we got a sleep in, hurrah! We headed down to breakfast and as Paap was still sick she headed back to the room and I went walking with John, Lisa and Sabrina. We headed up to victory gate, an arc de triumph style arch at one end of a wide tree lined boulevard. This monument was never finished but it looked nice all the same. I then dropped into the markets to pick up a pair of sunnies after drunkenly leaving mine in Vang Vieng. After scoring a pair of "Gug...

We have arrived in Vientiane after our long yet interesting bus journey! Our hotel in clean and simple, a welcome relief since the last hell hole! Paap is not feeling well, so she stays in whilst we head around the city for a bit of a look see. Vientiane is a lovely city set on the banks of the Mekong. We headed through the city down to the river. You can see Thailand over the other side of the river, which is quite low this time of year. The locals are out and ...