Met with the entire G Adventures group, there are two guides from Thailand and then there are 6 of us in total on the tour. There were two other individuals that just finished up their last G Adventures tour through Cambodia and Vietnam; so it was a mix between hellos and goodbyes. Three people from the Cambodia and Vietnam tour are joining us, and then there are us newbies. It seems like it will be a good group; however, I am still sad that the Contiki group had...

Well I am officially the last one on the Contiki tour left in Hanoi. I didn't really do much yesterday, just went around the block and stopped in a couple of shops to look at some things that they were selling. Then returned to the hotel room to watch some tv and relax. I tried some Vietnamese iced coffee though, it had a strong flavour to it but after a while I got used to it. The one I ordered just came with milk, apparently the ones that come with condensed mi...

First thing in the morning we got picked up from the other nasty hotel and got dropped off at the Hong Ngoc Dynastie hotel for the final breakfast with the group. We all said goodbye, as different groups of people were leaving at different times throughout the day. Since I had booked a night at the Dynastie hotel (because I assumed I would be there the night of the 13th) I had to check in, my room wasn't ready but I asked if I could stay at the Dynastie hotel i...

We woke up to the beautiful view of Ha Long Bay, and a tasty breakfast; which included: toast, eggs, and bacon. As soon as breakfast ended, we were on a boat heading to the Sung Sot Cave. The cave was like a typical cave that you see anywhere, except this one was quite large. After the caves, we headed back to the junk boat for brunch and then we headed back to Hanoi. Once we got to our hotel in Hanoi: Hong Ngoc Hotel, we were informed that the hotel made a mi...

We finally reached the part of the tour I have been looking for the most - Ha Long Bay. We had to first drive four hours to get to Ha Long, stopping after 2 hours at a sculpture and noodle place. The rest stop was impressive. As soon as you walk in there were workers sewing satin pictures and the finished ones are stacked on a couple of tables. The pictures were nice but I wish we had more time to spend browsing through the pile, since they pictures weren't sort...