I arrived in Hanoi the capital of Vietnam a few days ago. I thought London had traffic problems until I came here, where the scooter rules the roads! The Vietnamese from my findings so far are after your money, but in an aggressive, nagging and persistance kind of way. They have already tried so many cons, from trying to charge double the price for airport transfers, the taxi's taking you to hotels where they receive commission and also travels agents quoting one price and adding on a 10% "Government Tax" fee, what a loads of b0ll@cks! I'm sure when I head down south it will chill out a lot, as Hanoi is just crazy. I went on a 3 day and 2 night trip to Halong Bay, which is amazing. Spent the first night on the boat which was an experience, then spent the 2nd night in a small beach island called Cat Ba - which is the only populated island in Halong Bay. Well thats is you do not count the various of floating villages. I'm now back in Hanoi where i'll spend 5 nights waiting for Sarah to arrive :) There is not much to do here but I have met a good bunch of people on the boat trip, so we'll probably meet up tonight. Also is the New Years Eve here tomorrow night, so Hanoi will be party town for the locals and tourists alike.