A day full of adventure today as we headed into the countryside around Hue on motorbikes - a few of us left at 8am so that we wouldn't be in a big group and would have more time to see around. Our drivers took us through back alleys, along rivers, through villages, up through forest to stunning views over the Perfume river and lots of historic buildings too. Our first stop was a village market where we wandered around and took in all the smells and sounds - from ...

From the hectic and chaotic Hanoi to the much more peaceful, compact and rather regal Hue. It lies on the Perfume river and is home to the Imperial Citadel, the royal residence of the kings of Vietnam. In 1993 it was listed as a world heritage site - and seeing around I can understand why! After a local vietnamese lunch we headed to the Imperial city for the afternoon - royal palaces, courts, houses for the family, library, temple...some are the original buildin...

After the hustle and bustle of Hanoi - think too many people living in too small a space, add in thousands of scooters and cars, them mix in a good sprinkling of noise and finish off with the fab smells of vietnamese cooking and that's a taste of what it is like!! - we headed off on a 150km trip on Thursday to Halong Bay. The bay is a body of water approx 1500 square kms and consists of a dense cluster of 1969 momolithic islands, each topped with thick jungle veg...