Ha Long Bay - what a tranquil place. We arrived here after a 4 hour bus journey from Hanoi. Our tour consisted of spending 2 days and 1 night on the Opera Cruise - a large junk boat. We also spent time in a floating fishing village - some of whose inhabitants have never set foot on firm ground - and trekked through the Hang Sung Sot (cave of surprises) - a series of large limestone caves. The view of Ha Long Bay from Hang Sung Sot was spectacular. The cave it...

First day exploring Hanoi in Vietnam. Getting across the street is a major mission in this city of over 2 million mopeds and in the whole area we covered today we only saw 1 traffic light, which the locals seemed to ignore anyway. Seems to only apply to cars! The food in Vietnam is amazing! The flavours are so complex and we have enjoyed it so much that we can hardly wait until our next meal. We explored the Old Quarter today (which is where our hotel is situa...