Hello!!! I havn't written this in so long I dont really know where to start! The tour has been non-stop pretty much from the very start, so im going to write this entry by place that we visited instead of by day!

Hanoi.

We first met the group in Hanoi, everyone seemed pretty old and we definately were a little bit worried!Our tour leader is a girl called Sophie whos 20-something, so thats quite good. We have a n absolute crease up guy called Josef who is from Austria. Absolutely bonkers and if you tell his this he says 'No....im 51!' im in stitches everytime I talk to him! Our breakfast is pretty much paid for everyday, and the hotels we stay in are pretty cushty...us young dirty travellers get some funny looks as we take advantage of the buffet breakfast so we dont need to buy lunch!haha.

Mai Chau.

We took a 3 hour bus journey to arrive at the little village where we would stop for lunch before starting our trekking. The houses are all on stilts and the floors are made of bamboo. You can see through the floor and it feels like its going to break, so it wasnt a wise idea of mine to jump up and down on it trying to get into my sleeping bag liner! We had a delicious vietnamese lunch, rice,beans....sounds dull buts its actually pretty good. I opted for the veggie option as i still wasn't trusting the meat yet! The trekking started at the bottom of a mountain, from where we circled it all the way up, around and back down again. Pretty tiring and when the sun went in it got pretty cold aswell! Along the way we were lucky enough to witness the slaughtering of a pig that the locals would eat for dinner.....atleast we know its fresh!haha. By the time we reached the first village it was dark, and we were shown to a barn-like-building where we would be sleeping. It had an open fire in the middle, and it was a fight to see who would sleep nearest the fire, and who could get the most duvets as it was freeeeezing. You can imagine we all smelt delightful! Early next morning, after a simple brekkie we set off to the next village. This walk was a lot easier as it was over flat ground but everywhere is very dusty. The second homestay was right next to a river. The sun was quite hot, and we decided to try our hand at fishing with a big net with chains around it. We waded up to our knees, but i think we must have scared everything away!We made a dam instead, all good fun! Had a freezing shower to get rid of the smell of rivers, and attempted to warm up, but we didnt have a fire this time...and also didnt have electricity between the hours of 6 and 9!So we ate by candlelight all sat on the floor. During the night I literally had to crawl into a ball to keep warm, and pull my duvet right over my head. I had the option of my hips aching so much if I curled in a ball, but being warm....or being comfy but cold!!!Still managed to get sleep though. The morning after we trekked up to our coach, again a fairly easy walk but it was hot and dusty and i just went into my own little world.The scenery was spectacular and it was definately worth doing.

Halong Bay.

After a day recovering form the trek in Hanoi, we jumped into the bus and had yet another 3 hour journey to Halong bay. We were a little bit apprehensive about his seeing as last time we had a crash and the weather was pants, but it was amazing! We boarded a really lush boat, and were shown to our cabins that were really nice. We had hot showers (yay!) and the lushest food ever! All we really ate was fish but i loved it so much. The prawns were massive, and everything was bought from little fish farms that are dotted around the bay in the middle of know where! Around sunset we all got into 2 person kayaks and kayaked around the bay. The water was so still, and the huge limestone islands were wicked. Lauren and I had the Kayaking down to a tee, we bombed it along! It was Debs birthday today so we threw her a bit of a party and had a boogie on the boat, i think we really entertained the staff who looked on in amazement!The following morning we were awoken by Darren (a guy on the tour) banging on our door saying to hurry and come and see Josef. Josef had jumped off the boat and was swimming around, not only this...he had climbed into a boat of a lady that sells stuff to you along side our big boat and was rowing her about!Absolutely legendary. After visititing a cave (once you've seen one you've seen them all...) we decided a swim was in order!We all were jumping off the side of the boat, so fun if a little petrifying! The clear blue waters were idilic. We were literally only in Halong Bay for 24 hours, so we all wished we had had longer as it was a real chill-out after all the trekking!

Hue.

Caught an over night train to Hue i think....cant really remember! Hue would be the place we would stay for christmas, and we arrived here on christmas eve. When we arrived we gate crashed a wedding...our coach pulled up and we had to slyly pass the bride and groom who were welcoming the guests! Quite funny! The hotel was really lush, crisp white sheets! Christmas eve was the funniest night ever...we decided on going out and celebrate just like we would do at home, so we had a delicious Indian dinner (that i had been craving!) and found a bar called DMZ which seemed to have its fair share of westerners. Everyone started drinking Vietnamese vodka, its really cheap and is made from rice. The group started to wonder back to the hotel, and at about 2 am, Andy, Darren and myself decide to call it a night. On the way home we were offered the usual lift by the cyclo drivers, but decided we would cycle them instead!Got some hilarious pics! When we got back to the hotel, all the night staff were in the driveway eating and singing vietnamses christmas carols, which were exactly the same as ours so we joined in but in English. They loved it, and we got lots of hellos next morning! Classic part of the night was when we decided to surprise Lauren by decorating up our room. I carried up a really heavy plant pot from reception that had artificial flowers in the shame of a tree, Darren carried up a real christmas tree with lights, an we bought up about 3 flower arrangements! Unfortunately with all the comotion of bringing the decorations in the room Lauren woke up, and was in stitches to see our fairly small room absolutely chocka with decorations! I almost wet myself. Next day even after the chambermaids had been in all the decorations were still in, but Darren made we panic like anything when he rang up and said "You have Christmas tree???" in a vietnamese accent!haha. Christmas day was spent laughing about the night before, enjoying a boat trip down the perfume river and visiting the fairly boring Citadel. The day was topped of with a head,neck and face massage courtesy of Debs! We all handed our secret santa prezzies about and then headed to a French restaurant for dinner. Mine was rough as, the chicken was stretchy!Luckily Lauren ordered the set 7 course meal so i just ate all her leftovers!

Hoi An.

Hoi An is THE place to get tailored clothes made, so we really made the most of this. We arrived in the morning and the sun was already baking. The further south you go the hotter its meant to get. We headed to a tailor that was recommended to us by a rather eccentric new yorker in the group, it it was amazing. We were all measured up, chose designs, asked for copies and chose gorgeous materials...it took around 3 hours! We were only in Hoi An for 2 days so the tailors really had their work cut out. The following day we decided to go to have our legs threaded (even though we were warned not to!) this is where they remove the hair on your legs with thread.Kind of like epilating. I also have the most amazing massage ever, where the lady 're-alligned' me, and was literally standing on me pulling me about! After getting my feet measured for some tailor made sandals, the same lady who gave me the massage drove us to the beach along with her Aussie husband on the back of mopeds. She was wicked, her name was Fook (thats how you prenounce it anyway!) and she had a glass eye after she lost it during the war when playing with the left overs of a bomb. The beach was amazing, but apparently it had been really messed up by the typhoon that hit a couple of months ago.

Anyway, i'll update more soon but its getting expensive Lots of love xxxx