I arrived in Vietnam and got a cab straight to Hanoi central, than settled in to my room before heading straight out to explore. However, it was not long before I realised I was knackered from my lack of sleep and went back for a power nap. Awake and fresh I went for some food, no idea what it was but it was great! Had another look round and a cheeky beer.

4th Dec, Got up early and went of breakfast at a place called KOTO that is recomended in the Lonley Planet. To my horror, they had baked beans there, so I was not happy about that. Luckily, no one was eating them or I would of had to leave! Then headed to Halong Bay and got straight on a boat and headed out of the bay. It has thousands of limestone islands (left by a dragon that died in the waters) and we cruised through them, stopping off for a wander round. It was quite misty as it is winter, but apparantly it's like that most of the year anyway. Had some great seafood on board - lots of shrimps and other tasty stuff, then despite being winter, I went for a swim off the boat. To be fair, it's still pretty warm, so it wasn't being that brave! Heading back to land I went for a drink with a couple of people and had a few local beers and some shots of snake wine! It's horrible stuff and very strong, coming in a bottle with a dead cobra in it!!

5th Dec, Got up again nice and early and headed back to Hanoi and had another look around. The traffic is not as bad as India, but still pretty manic with loads of motor bikes swerving around you. I went to the Hoa Lo Prison and they have an interesting way of making it sound like the prisoners were treated fairly well!! Had some more food and it does seem as if all I'm doing so far is eating! Anyway, also went the Old Quarter and the markets around town. Lots of fresh fish swimming around and when someone buys it, they just chop the head off and hand it over!!