The journey from Hong Kong to Hanoi (viet nam) took 24 1/2 long hours and 6 different modes of transport! We took a tube to the border between Hong Kong and Hanoi, crossed the border on foot into a scary Chinese town called Shenzen. China is extremely different from Hong Kong, everything in Hong Kong was sign posted in English, people were really friendly and most spoke some english too. However in Shenzen it took us almost two hours just to find the right bus station we needed to take us to Nanning. We asked so many people and could either not understand us or wanted money in return for helping us. It was the only place so far where we really felt vulnerable and kept an eye on each other and our belongings.We also found ourselves, very stupidly with no Chinese currency. We assumed it would be as easy as Hong Kong to obtain or exchange money but the banks were closed and hotels refused to help us unless we were guests. We had to risk it and continue with no money, we had our bus tickets which we bought in Hong Kong but were clueless as to what we would do about the train tickets we needed to buy at the next stop!!.

We took an 11hour bus to Nanning and luckily met some very helpful chinese women on the way who helped us find an ATM when we stopped. When we got to nanning train station we realised that nobody could speak english and we literally had to match the chinese symbols to the symbols on our tickets!The adventure continued and we took a 7 hour train to a very remote part of China called Pingxiang.We were stared at by the locals the whole way there. Very few travellers make the journey from Hong Kong to Viet nam so some of the locals were shocked and curious to see us on that train. Luckily we had some gorgeous mountain scenery to distract us out of the window (or hole in the side of the train which would be a better description). The train stopped in such remote parts of rural china that all there was to act as a 'station' was a dirt track with one house at the end of it!! The train got quiter and quiter and we had no idea where to get off and nobody could understand us. As the train approached a station we looked at the sign to try and recognise our stop but we were all getting more an more concerned and questioning whether we were even going in the right direction at all!!Finally we saw a sign for Pinxiang and all let out a sigh of relief!

From the train station we took a tuk-tuk type vehicle which was basically a giant half can shape structure on top of a motorbike to the border crossing where China meets Viet nam. The driver took all of us plus rucsacs and it was almost tipped over on more than one occassion. I was literally holding Kaye in because there was nothing for her to hold on to! Very scary at the time but something I will always remember.

Crossing the border was easy and the locals were instantly friendlier.We took a taxi to the nearest town called Long San from which we took another 4 hour minibus journey into Hanoi. The hotel was clean amd comfortable, they washed all our laundry and it cost around 2.50 each to stay the night!!

Hanoi is a fun city, the locals are friendly and there is good food and plenty to do. One thing that will stay with us the most about Hanoi is the art pf crossing the road.This applies everywhere in Viet nam but particularly in Hanoi. There are hundreds and hundreds of motorbikes and mopeds on the roads at all times. There is no 'side of the road' it is every man for themselves. There was a roundabout in the Old Quarter that we sat and watched for a while as drivers of all vehicles were circling it in both directions! When we left Hanoi after two nights and headed North to Halong City we saw the less amusing affects of this way of driving as a man was led dead in the middle of the road. He'd had an accident and wasn't wearing a helmet! It was shocking to see and nobody was doing anything to help, they just stared at him and crowded round. It was awful and a memory that will probably stay with us all for different reasons!

Halong City is a quiet coastal town which is the gateway to Halong Bay- a gorgeous bay of approximat;y 3000 islands that protrude from the sea! You have to see it to understand how amazing it is. We paid for a tour which took us on a boat to Cat Ba island (the only island in Halong Bay that people live on) and we stayed there for a night. The second day we slept on the boat, went Kayaking at 6.30 am (what a killer) and generally lounged about in the sun!

We then took an overnight train to Hue where it rains and rains and rains all the time!!It is in the middle of Vietnams coast and is apparently stuck with the worst weather all year round! I had my hair cut for the first time in 8 months and it cost me 30, 000 dong which is the equivelant of about 1 english pound!! Bargain!! We are moving on tonight to Nha Trang, a (hopefully sunny) town 12 hours south of Hue where we plan to stay for 5 nights.