I had a great day trip to Halong bay where I felt like I was in Pirates of the Caribbean except there weren't any proper Vietnamese sailboats with cool sails.

But me and Kam (from Ho Chi Minh) who I sat with rented a kayak after lunch and skilfully navigated a couple of island caves, my chinos got drenched but he water was almost warm so I didn't mind.

When we got back to the boat (almost late) we had some photo ops with his girlfriend who had opted to stay behind...

Food: A selection of fishy bits and cheesy bits and if i remember correctly really nice tofu!

Next on the agenda we climbed up and into into one of the islands for a cave tour which was spectacularly lit up with colour but you really needed to use your imagination to see some of the animals they described.

The photo is Romeo and Juliet, try to find them...

When we came out it was stunning to see the view of the islands and all the quirky boats ready to take passengers home!

It would also make a great night club!

Status
• Hanoi is ugly...
• Hanoi is smoggy; there are fires everywhere...
• Hanoi is noisy; everyone beeps to let each other know they are overtaking...

Food 2: Yesterday, I had the best scrambled egg baguette a a free brekkie (this morning's fruit bowl was disappointing) but I also had some fried cheese breadcrumb sticks as we wandered he streets which were to die for and i miss them.