Hey Guys,

Hoi An was great but I wouldn't say it was the 'food and shopping capital of Vietnam' - that is over Tet anyway. We arrived in Hoi An a day or so before Tet (Lunar New Year) and it was absolutely chaos. There were people everywhere but lots of the shops were shut or shutting and prices for anything were doubled or tripled. We got some stuff tailored which was an absolute nightmare but that's a whole blog on it's own. New Years Eve was the best I've ever had. We had a cooking lesson in the evening with great food then we watched the fireworks sitting on the river edge. We were told they were tame - "backyard fireworks" was the description we were given but they were fantastic... second best I've ever seen (Bramley Bonfire night will never be beaten!) Then we went to a place called the Salsa Club which was great!

After Hoi An we went to Hue, which was cold and raining to everyone's disgust! Asia is supposed to be the land of eternal sunshine and heat! We saw a great show at the Citadel of Chinese Dragons and martial arts. So we froze before moving on to Ninh Bihn and then Cuc Phuong National park where we visited the primate refugee camp, did a walk to an old tree… hmmm… and froze again… did I mention that Vietnam is in the midst of the coldest temperatures on record in 100 years! We headed onto Halong Bay, the place I was most looking forward to. It was beautiful but not sunny, misty which made it a bit mystical. We had a boat trip round before going kayaking and then I had the brilliant idea to go swimming! We spent the night on the boat before heading to Hanoi. Crazy Crazy but because of Tet (which seems to have lasted the entire 3 weeks I've been in Vietnam) it wasn't as crazy as usual.

I flew today back to Bangkok and tomorrow hit up the weekend markets for last minute souvenirs shopping (so put your requests in quickly!) then go to Kho Samet in the afternoon for some well needed R&R.. I fly home on Wednesday and get back to Sydney late that night. I'm SO sad to be going home cause I've had SUCH a great time but do miss all you guys.. awwww…..

So this is probably my last blog while I'm away… I'll write again and let you know about my tan (or sunburn) acquired on Kho Samet and when I get my photos up online too…