Hanoi is a great place that is relatively unchanged by tourists. The old quarter with it's tall and thin colonial style buildings, narrow streets and the sound of motorcycle horns is everything we hoped it would be. People on the streets wearing conical hats selling food and bia hoi on tiny plastic chairs, and others offering key cutting, shoe cleaning, and hair cuts. The best one is the people selling around 30 live goldfish in plastic bags on the back of their motorbike. We visited the Ho Chi Minh complex which included the president's house, museum and finally the man himself. The mausoleum was a very strange place with many guards and a red carpet for us to walk on which led us up the steps to the large grey building which housed his preserved body. It was a brief encounter lasting about 15 secs, the time it took us to walk around his glass coffin. There was no stopping otherwise you would be told off, and obviously no photographs. That day we also visited the war museum, the beautiful lake and had lunch by the cathedral. The evening was beer fuelled as the local fresh beer on tap 'Bia Hoi' is only 20 pence for a cup. Four each was all we needed!

The next day we embarked on our 2 day 1 night eco-cruise to Halong Bay. We were booked on to the rather extravagant company 'Indochina Junk', as they have a large part of the bay to themselves called 'Bai Tu Long Bay'. Our 'Prince II' boat only had 4 ensuite cabins all with two large windows looking out to the bay. We set sail into the clearing mist and sat down to a sumptuous 8 course meal. There were large marble karsts everywhere surrounded by turquoise water. The great thing was that the only other boats we saw in Bai Tu Long bay were the 3 others from our company and a few fishing boats. None of the 300 party/karaoke boats we had heard about in Halong bay, so we quickly realised it was worth paying that little bit more. We visited a cave and a beach that sat beneath the rocks. From here we kayaked around 2 of the large karsts with the sun shining and blue crabs crawling up the rocks. We were given a net to pick up any rubbish we came across- if only we had one of these in Cambodia! We watched the beautiful sunset and got back onto the boat for a go at squid fishing and another 8 course meal on the deck, which included freshly caught clams, king prawns and manta shrimps. It didn't feel like we were on a boat, the bay was very calm. So after a great nights sleep we woke up early the next morning to see the sun rise over the bay. After breakfast we visited a large fishing village that the company were helping to support by providing money, sustainable housing materials, and a system to avoid waste pollution in the bay. The fisherman paddled us around, first to a school, a small fish farm and a large oyster pearl farm. It was an amazing morning to see how these people can live on the sea. Feeling guilty, we stepped back onto our luxurious boat and sailed back to the mainland whilst we ate more great food for lunch. A fantastic 24 hours- money well spent!

The drive back to Hanoi was long and made even longer by the free visit to a water puppet show. An enjoyable but very strange show involving people waist deep in water behind a screen controlling wooden puppets that perform on the surface of the lily pond. The next 2 nights in Hanoi were spent eating as much Vietnamese food as we could manage and visiting the 'Hanoi Hilton' prison and the Temple of literature.

So sad to leave Vietnam but we are so tired and need a rest. Five weeks on thai islands should do the trick!