We could have made our way up into the rural mountainous northwest of Vietnam, which we had heard from several travelers was a must-do. Instead, we made a decision to head south and make the most of the dry season in the tropics. We arrived in Dong Hoi at 4.34am and it was cold and raining.Apparently there is a large mountain range separating northern rainy Vietnam from tropical southern Vietnam. We were still on the northern side... The rain helped us to catch ...

After much deliberation, we decided that the best way for us to see Halong Bay was to follow the masses and go with an organized tour. Besides, it seemed like a good chance to chat with other travelers and plan our next move. So after a very bumpy and slightly cramped four hour bus ride, we arrived at Halong Bay City and boarded our boat for the journey. Whilst enjoying a very westerner-adapted Vietnamese lunch on board our junk, we started drifting through some...

After mastering the art of 'communication-without-words' in China, we thought we would be ready for anything that the relatively well-travelled southern neighbour, Vietnam, had to offer. We were wrong! Although communication was easier, Hanoi managed to make China seemed like a very well-behaved senior citizen. After we were safely dropped at the front door of our hostel, it took us a while to work up the guts to venture out into the street. We were staying in t...

Shanghai, our final stop in China before heading down to warmer territories! Shanghai turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Neither of us particularly like big cities but the enormous, unique and very abstract collection of skyscrapers towering above the Huangpu river were a sight to see. A two kilometre section of concreted riverbank nicknamed 'the Bund' provides a perfect platform for viewing the beasts on the opposite side of the river. An equally amazing vie...

If it weren't for the invite from Emilina and Geoffrey (the French couple that we met on the Yangzi River) we probably wouldn't have even considered visiting Hangzhou. Described by our new friends as a weekend getaway for Shanghai residents, Hangzhou turned out to be a refreshing stay. Built around the magnificent and almost totally man-made Xi Hu (West Lake), with scattered gardens, boardwalks and bridges around the lake edge, this was a very beautiful place. T...