It's 7:42am and I have got up so that I can get my free breakfast at the Hanoi Backpackers hostel which is actually across the road from the building I slept in. We got to the hostel at midnight, 30 hours after leaving Luang Prabang. The first 6 hours were spent getting used to the sleeper bus where the cheeky locals who had obviously paid a low fee to sleep downstairs slowly moved to gaps in the upper bunk. One was constantly battling for Peter's legroom but Peter managed to outlast him.

You will recall from the previous blog (that I haven't written yet) that my stomach was upset by some food before the trek. Hence, I was afraid to fall asleep so that I could keep my butt cheeks clenched in case of emergency. I have settled out now thankfully but had a near miss yesterday morning at the Vietnam border, thankfully there was a WC in sight and I celebrated when I saw it was a western one, it makes everything so much easier...

40 minutes later I have had the nicest scrambled egg baguette ever (my original one was delivered to the wrong table, but these were worth the wait). I will now cleanse myself ready to explore the city (since I didn't want to disturb the slumbering dorm when I went for breakfast) and the grand plan is to stay 2 more nights (£4/night inc wifi and breakfast) see Halong bay on a day trip and yen get the scenic train down towards 4000 islands in the south of Laos.

Status
• Somewhere between knackered and buzzing due to 3 free coffees...
• Definitely appreciating the beauty and value of the area but will be very happy to return to the Western English speaking world...
• Stomach is finally settling, so glad I invested in pills at Boots in the airport before I flew...
• Lost my nifty pen-torch looking for my iPod which I dropped down the side of my seat in the coach :( ...
• May it rest in peace with my free Qatar Air eye mask which I somehow lost down the seat too...

Food: I haven't eaten much, just some sesame crackers and M&Ms to keep my tummy occupied.