On Saturday morning we got back to Hanoi at 4.30am, were met at the train by our hotel staff and taken back to Hanoi Old Centre for a few hour's rest, breakfast and an 8.30 pickup to start our few days on Halong Bay. It was a three hour bus ride to the marina which is all new and on a small island just over a bridge from Halong City. You can already see that a number of luxury hotels are being built there. We took a small tender out to our boat which has a lovely...

On our last day in Hanoi we walked to the old Prison and looked at the conditions back in the early years, many prisoners sleeping in a row with leg irons on. Some American pilots were also kept here during the Vietnam War. We also walked to the Opera House but weren't able to go inside. The day was extremely hot and humid and we were give a room at our hotel until we were able to leave for the train. We were also treated to dinner cooked by the hotel - a traditi...

The hotel we're staying at have been fantastic with recommendations of cheap local restaurants. We ate at one called Rainbow on our first night here - it's only about 100 metres from our Hotel down the street which makes it a quieter place to enjoy a meal. The cost of dinner there is about half what we were paying in HCMC. On Monday we walked along the street one behind us which is known as Hemp St and has shops selling silk clothing and handicrafts. There are...

We arrived in Hanoi today after a short flight from Ho Chi Minh City. On our last day there we explored some more of the area near our hotel and found a local market and small supermarket type shops. We also walked down by the waterfront and were drenched with perspiration by the time we got back. In Hanoi we are staying at a small hotel called the Hanoi Old Centre which is very close to Hoan Kiem Lake and we have a view of this from our room which is very large...

After a day of travelling on Wednesday we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City about 9pm and were collected from the airport by a car from our home for the next four nights, the Grand Hotel. I'd forgotten the sights, sounds and smells of Asia, the frenetic pace of cars and motorbikes, tooting horns, the way the heat hits you and the quiet and gentle nature of the Vietnamese. Our hotel room is lovely, nice and large, a big bed, good air conditioning - all welcome after a ...