We had two options to get from Laos to Hanoi in Vietnam - a 30-hour bus ride through the jungle or a 1-hour flight. The bus ride has been labeled 'the bus ride from hell' so we opted for the flight - although not the cheap option, we thought it was worth it. The plane was very small with two prop engines and as we admired the scenic views of the luscious green hills and rivers, it was clear why the bus ride takes 30 hours! After some very bad turbulence (damn SE Asian weather!) we arrived in Hanoi.

Our hotel was well situated in the historic quarter and the staff were so friendly. We even got upgraded to a much larger room complete with a 30-inch LCD TV and a bath - a luxury indeed, given how thin Vietnamese buildings are. We have been scammed in Vietnam before (dodgy meters in taxis, expensive train tickets etc) so were really keen to not let it happen again! So on the first day we ran a couple of errands - we then ventured to the train station to book our onward ticket to Hue - we wanted to buy direct so we didn't get charged commission on our tickets. When we got to the counter, we were surprised to learn that there were absolutely no tickets left for any of the trains to Hue four days later?! Hmmm…I was suspicious and conveniently our hotel manager made one phone call and managed to get us some tickets for the train - with commission of course!

The rest of our time in Hanoi we spent walking around the lake, visiting the temple complete with an embalmed tortoise?! We also went to see Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body in the mausoleum, which was really bizarre. We arrived at 8.15am and took 15 minutes to find the end of the queue, which was hundreds of metres long! It was mainly Vietnamese people waiting in line and the queue was as fascinating as Ho Chi Minh himself. We walked in two lines side by side in military precision under the watchful eye of guards - if anyone dared to jump the queue, the guards seemed to have eyes in the back of their head and promptly grabbed them, giving them a thump or a slap on the way! After 90 minutes, we had our 60 seconds walking around the body - it was really weird seeing him, with his pale body and long grey beard. It kind of felt wrong given that he had explicitly requested to be cremated - but no the Vietnamese were not going to let that happen! We also visited 'Hanoi Hilton' as dubbed by the Americans - the prison where the French held troublesome Vietnamese and then the Vietnamese held American POW. It was laced with the usual Vietnamese bias of how terrible the French treated them but bizarrely the Americans looked like they were on holiday camp?! Hmmm…. We went to a water puppet show also which was mesmerisingly good, the highlight though was when one of the puppets' legs fell off - hilarious! We also spent much time drinking Bier Hoi (fresh beer) with Regan and Abbie, which is 15p for a large glass!! Getting drunk on a pound is the best J

It was then time for our overnight cruise around Halong Bay, which consists of over 1900 scenic islands. There are tons of operators and we had heard horror stories of conditions on some of the boats so were a bit nervous about booking it. But Eric and Mackenzie (from Laos!) had recommended Pelican Cruise, which they had been on a few weeks before. It was a bit over our price range but I managed to get us a great last minute deal so we decided to go for it. We weren't disappointed and it turned out to be one of the best 24 hours of our whole trip! The boat was only 10 months old with 22 rooms and it felt extremely luxurious, with impeccable service. We arrived in our room and discovered we had been upgraded to one of two deluxe suites. We had a massive room, a bath tub and access to a private decking area. It was such a change from the past few weeks and was much appreciated. It was amazing watching the views of Halong Bay from the floor to ceiling windows in front of us! You never got tired of those views…

After a silver service seafood lunch we docked by some scenic caves. We had a choice to explore the caves - by bamboo boat or kayak. I had never been kayaking and was a bit nervous but it was brilliant! We got to see a lot more, going under narrow swim-throughs to reveal stunning, isolated views J We then had fun jumping off the boat and swimming around, before getting ready for dinner. We gathered on the deck for happy hour and to watch a cooking demonstration of Vietnamese spring rolls - we all had a go at making some and enjoyed them as an appetizer. After a delicious BBQ buffet, we had drinks on our private decking area with Dylan and Al, a couple we had met from Melbourne. The next morning we got up early for breakfast and then went for a walk around the 'Cave of Surprises', which was in essence a massive cave with various chambers - it was absolutely stunning. We then had some chill time on the deck and finally lunch, before arriving back to the port. It had all felt a bit like a dream to be honest and with very full stomachs, we arrived back in Hanoi with post-Halong Bay cruise blues.

Only 2 weeks to go - we're scared the time will go so quickly but are determined to make the most of every day! We genuinely feel like the last few weeks have been some of our best of the trip. Our remaining stops are Central Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangkok, before flying back to the UK.