It has been 2 weeks since we wrote our last blog so lots of news to tell you. From Nha Trang we moved up the coast to Hoi An on another "sleeper" bus. Hoi An meant tailoring, so our first afternoon was spent picking a tailor, which ended up being in the cloth market, which is essentially a warehouse of different materials stacked from floor to ceiling, quite an amazing sight. We spent 2 hours with our tailor called 'Forget Me Not' deciding what to get made. I should probably take the blame for this as Toby was done in about 15 minutes. Within 24 hours, they had already made the clothes and we were back for a fitting. Fittings were quite entertaining as we pointed out things we wanted changed and there would then be a flurry of Vietnamese spoken before we got a nod or shake of the head. 3 of these fittings later and we now have 2 dresses and a suit. It was a very successful few days. In Hoi An we also met up with Fiona and her two friends and spent 2 days with them, on the beach and having some delicious meals. It was great to see them. During the day Hoi An is just a sea of tailors but at night the river is lined with lanterns and there is a tradition of floating candles in the river for good luck. All of this made it a spectacular sight at night.

After a few days in Hoi An it was time for a 24 hour bus to Hanoi, where we were really looking forward to doing our trip to Halong Bay. This trip we always thought was going to be a highlight but it was better than we imagined. We spent 3 days out in the bay. We arrived on the boat the first day and spent the afternoon swimming and kayaking through the caves. Mixed weather didn't mask how amazing the bay is in any way. We then spent that night on the boat and the next day was off to a private island owned by the company that ran the tour. We spent the day lying on the beach but the highlight was going doughnuting. We luckily managed to avoid the jellyfish which although were not particularly poisonous looked fairly brutal and there were plenty of them. That night was a bbq followed by some games. One thing we hadn't heard about when we left was the plankton that glows neon blue when disturbed at night. So everyone was swimming and throwing stones to make the water ripple. It was the best they had seen the plankton this year so we were really lucky to be there for it. Also during these few days we saw some of the spots where the Top Gear Vietnam Special was filmed. The last day we made our way back to get the bus back to Hanoi. It was a brilliant few days with great people and delicious food. Hanoi itself was the most chaos we have seen the whole trip, it was great fun to be in but very tiring. Our guide in Halong Bay summed it up perfectly saying that it is the only city in the world where you can drive your motorbike the wrong way down a one way street, mounting the pavement, honking your horn and pedestrians unquestioningly feel that it is their responsibility to get out of the way.

For this reason, it was so nice when we arrived in Vientiane, in Laos, 4 days ago where it is the complete opposite. On our first night we walked through the market, not only did everyone smile at us they also didn't hassle us to buy something. It was another 24 hour bus to Vientiane so we decided to stop there for one night before heading on to Vang Vieng which is where we currently are. So far we have had three great days here. We spent the first day splitting our time between sitting in the sun and the various cafes that all have sofas and play friends non stop. Yesterday was our first day of tubing. It seems a bit of an odd idea to take a tractor tyre inner tube and float down 3 km of river whilst stopping at a few bars, but it was a great day. We met some more lovely people and spent the day with them. Today has been a bit of a rest, sorting and sunbathing day and we will be back tubing tomorrow.

Two weeks two days until we are home! Hope that you are all well.

Lots of love xxx