12/8/2012 Made it to Hoi An yesterday via Danang Airport and spent the afternoon getting our bearings by heading out on a reconnaissance mission to work out the best place for tailoring. Hoi An is such a change from HCMC and Hanoi - so much more laid back, more open and less busy. There are still those pesky motorbikes but somehow I don't think they are avoidable but crossing the street is not as life threatening! We commenced this morning with an early morning ...

We took a 3 hour trip by car and boarded "The Ginger" for an overnight cruise on beautiful Halong Bay. The boat was beautifully appointed with ensuites to each room, formal dining room, sun deck with bar and a hammer in each room in the event the ship sinks and you need to break out! Our cabin had a king size double bed but when we realized there was a cabin with 2 separate beds it dawned on us they probably thought we were a gay couple given we obviously weren...

The aim this morning was to head out and walk to the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh who lies in state for public viewing. That was going well until we headed down the street completely in the wrong direction! A nice young uni student who spoke english then befriended us and showed us the way. Once in we found ourselves part of the procession past the glass coffin with many of the Vietnamese people with us visibly moved. It was very surreal but felt quite an honor We...

Nice and wet for our arrival in Hanoi but definitely not cold. We marvel constantly at the "relaxed" OHS: entire families on motorbikes, smoking in cafes, dodgy electrical cables bundled together and flagrant disregard for "no mobile phones on" during take off and landing but somehow everything flows and only gives the tourists the heart-starts. We explored the old quarter of the city on our arrival and have been fascinated by the architecture and just how many ...

We travelled by car to the Mekong Delta where we were taken by small boat around an Cu Lao Dung (island) in the Delta. On the island we visited a factory where coconut candy, popped rice products and moonshine were being manufactured and hand packaged - so labour intensive and hot hard work for those working there. Everything is used, nothing is wasted - sand from the river to build and pop rice with, rice husks for fueling the fires, wine from fermentated rice...