Happily dry after a journey South through flooded Vietnam. After days of heavy rain in Hoi An we were pleased to find that yesterday hardly a drop fell - it made a big difference not being wet all the time (I'm thinking that I should have invested in a better quality pac-a-mac as mine is getting pretty nasty. But it looks pretty at least!) Hoi An is on the river, and the banks had burst so the street alongside had been flooded the whole time we were there, but...

Hue - a bit of a wash-out… Leaving Ninh Binh behind I set off on my way to Hue to meet back up with Cords, who'd been in Sapa. I was a day ahead but was confident that historic Hue would have enough on offer to keep me entertained… Arriving early in the morning after a chilly and bumpy sleeper bus ride, I trudged across a bridge in the rain to my hostel - the very cheery and welcoming Hue Backpackers Hostel. The signs were good; friendly people, yummy ban...

Had a lovely trip to Tam Coc to take in some scenery, and had a great history lesson thrown in! Tam Coc is set on the rice paddies of the countryside surrounding Ninh Binh; huge imposing rocks rise from the ground, and a river runs underneath some of them - leading to the name Tam Coc (3 caves). It's the main attraction for the area, so I was keen to get over there and see if it really did compare to Halong Bay. I did a trip from my hotel with 3 other Brits; La...

I am the only blonde in the village. It's been a strange day in Ninh Binh, 93km South of Hanoi. The Lonely Planet says that it's "off the beaten track" and they are not kidding - I've only seen about 3 other travellers and my hair makes me somewhat of an oddity here! The weather in Vietnam isn't great at the moment, so rather than head directly South to Hoi An I decided to do a little detour to Ninh Binh where it's sunny. The key attraction in Ninh Bi...

Three and a half weeks in and I've finally seen a beach! Have spent the last few days in Halong Bay; a UNESCO World Heritage site in Northern Vietnam. The bay is dotted with around 3,000 islands, great rock structures jutting out of the water, and its very popular with travellers. I joined a trip through the hostel I'm staying in, in Hanoi, which worked out really well - we had a great group of people, we all clicked and had a laugh. The first day was spent trav...