19th - 23rd May

I was warned about the crazy roads in Vietnam but I didn't realise just how bad they'd actually be! Within 5 mins of being in the taxi our driver pulled out in front of a minibus, two big trucks, almost hit a lady in the road while he was texting on his mobile, lost count how many bikes swerved in front of us and the horns are going off constantly! My seat belt was broken so a tad worried... but it wasn't long until Cheryl shouted at him, hehe!You quickly realise that crossing mean nothing to them and was told that the best way to cross the road is to not make eye contact, walk at a steady pace and they drive around you... this really does work so if you hesitate you'll likely to get knocked over! We checked into a really cool hostel called Hanoi Backpackers (our first hostel so far!).We booked an 'all female' dorm which is called the Nunnery and what a luxury it is to have somewhere nice and clean to stay.This place is run by two really cool Aussie guys and you're immediately made to feel so welcome and offered free beer and vodka shots.Hanoi is a very dirty city though and I wouldn't want to spend more that a couple of days here, it's complete mayhem! We heard about an ice cream shop which is suppose to be a must visit while in Hanoi called Fanny's!! They have a huge selection and we weren't disappointed they were so yummy.The rest of our day was spent preparing our itinerary for our stay in Vietnam.We've got some great places to see here so we're dead excited.Ready to leave Hanoi 'yay!' and head for Halong Bay for a three day boat cruise on the Thanh Hung tourisum boat. Again we find ourselves in a place with breathtaking views, this place is amazing.There are over 3000 or more incredible islands around the bay and limestone peaks towering the sea.Our first stop was to explore the caves - some of which were beautifully illuminated.After this we had a go at kayaking around a small area of the bay and then back to our boat for dinner (I even tried crab but it was awful!)The evening entertainment was Karoke but instead opted for drinks up on the top deck with a couple of girls we'd met at our hostel in Hanoi, Danielle & Michelle.At night all the surrounding boats are lite up and so it was like being in a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean, it was great. Danielle & I wanted to wake up to see the sunset so grabbed our covers and slept on the deck.Unfortunately, Cheryl wasn't very well so spent the whole night in the cabin.Day two of the cruise we were taken to Cat Ba Island and stayed at the Princes Hotel.Lots of sunbathing on the way as it was hot, hot, hot.Stopped off at one of the small islands so that we could jump off and have a swim.Cat Ba island is a beautiful place but the village where we stayed 'Haiphong' wasn't quite how we thought it would be.Although our hotel was nice the place as a whole was again pretty dirty and was like stepping back almost 40 years with all the old 70's style buildings.We also found that walking through the streets here you are looked at by all the locals and made to feel really uncomfortable (their lack of English here didn't help either) so we were pleased that we had a decent place to stay and opted for a chill out night in our room watching films.Last day and glad to be back on the boat, soaked up some more rays before getting the minibus back to the mayhem in Hanoi picked up our things from the hostel and onto the overnight train to Hoi An where we plan to hook up with Dannas and Michelle again.My diet over the past three weeks has consisted of nothing by fried foods, greasy meat and bread!During the bus journey to Halong Bay and back I saw dead cows, and pigs hanging over the backs of motorbikes and chickens rammed into baskets.It was awful to see so as from today I'm definitely turning veggie!