Hi all!

Still in Vietnam at the mo, up in the capital, Hanoi which is a great city, with lots of character, very french wth lovely little streets and old buildings, very pretty!

Last time I wrote I was in Ho Chi Minh City, I ended up staying there for over a week and it was great, we did lots of sightseeing, some good eating and plenty of getting to know the city. I also did some voluntery work in an orphanage, I was helping with the teeny weeny babies from newborns to 6 months, they were beautiful but a little stinky, he he, I have some cute photos that I will get on the web soon. The city itself was crazy and I have never seen traffic like it, crazy scooter drivers in the millions.

My sister came out for a week which was fantastic, we spent a couple of nights in Ho Chi Minh City and  crammed in the sights before heading off to the beach for a week. First stop was Nha Trang, we had a lazy day on the beach the first day, reading books and stopping occasionally for a swim, snack or drink! The second day we went out on a boat trip round the islands which was fun and we had a crazy captain who was drunk by about 9am.

We then headed for Mui Ne, a quieter little beachside resort, which was so beautiful I could have stayed there for a very long time, so relaxing!!! We had a lovely little bungalow that opened up on to the gardens and pool, and the beach was right there after those, perfect!!! We visited some amazing sandunes and took a walk up a river to a waterfall and the rest of the time was spent swimming in the sea or relazing by the sea reading. Unfortunately after a couple of days there we had to head back to the big city for Emma to fly home, but not before she filled her suit case with shopping. !!!

I then flew up to Hanoi to meet back up with Matt, Deb and Ben and we have had fun exploring here, we have eaten and drunk too much, we hired our only personal karaoke room, where we spent hours of fun singing our little hearts out, needless to say we had a few beers that night!!!

 Tomorrow we are heading out on a boat for 4 days and 3 nights around Halong Bay which everyone is very excited about, lots of swimming and kayaking etc! When we return back to dry land Ben and I are heading into China, we are somehow going to try and make our way to Hong Kong overland by train, goodness knows how but it should be an adventure anyway! We are thinking it will take us a couple of days and then we will spend 4 days in Hong Kong beofre flying home from there.

 I can't believe it is time to fly home almost, it has come round so fast, I am quite sad it is all over for another year but also very excited to see everyone soon! I arrive back in Blighty on Sunday 12th November so I guess I will see most of you around then!!!

I will try and get some more photos on soon and will be intouch after my boat trip over the next few days.  

Chat soon

Love Mariexxx