Helloooooo. We're now in Nha Trang, having sadly left Hoi An this morning. Hoi An was precisely what was needed after Hanoi. A very small riverside village dominated by fantastic restaurants, stylish bars and art galleries. The French influence is still very apparent here, but there was oodles of Asian charm present. We arrived at our hotel, expecting cheap and cheerful, and were greeted by several members of sharply dressed staff. Our bags were taken and comp...

So Hanoi maybe redeemed itself when we got back there. We checked into a nicer hotel and went out for a nice meal. The next day we both wanted to see different things. Rik headed off to a military museum which was really interesting and full of propaganda from the war. There were helicopters and tanks and other vehicles that had been seized from the opposition. Anna headed off to see Ho Chi Minh lying in his mausoleum which was very surreal. Thousands of people f...

Hello (Xin chao) from Hanoi. We arrived here on Wed 2 April on a Laos Airlines Flight. After getting on the plane in Vientiane we were then all sent back off and into the departure lounge as the plane seemed to be suffering from a small dose of engine failure!! Always good to discover these things before take off! Hanoi is a complete contrast to laid back life in Laos. We took a taxi from the airport to the old quarter and had romantic visions of quiet cobbled st...