Hi everyone, really enjoying reading the message board and slowly getting round to replying. After a 10 hr train journey north we have arrived in Ninh Binh. We were very pleased to get off the train despite the superb scenery en route. Seemed to be sharing our carriage with several locals with phlegm problems and all the locals love their tooth picks and sucking their teeth after each meal (ear plugs/ipod and concentrating on suduko helpful distractions from this)! Today we've had a fantastic day at Tam Coc as you'll see from photos, Very serene, had to get up and on the river by 7.30am to make sure beat the crowds of tourists and was very worth while. Limestone pinnacles and caves alongside river. Interesting tour guide -spoke good english. Ed was very impressed with my style of questioning and level of interest -didn't put my foot in it once despite lack of knowledge on buddhism when visiting temples! Thisafternoon went to a floating village (although all seemed to be living on land in houses to us!) but interesting to see local life all the same. Anyhow, off to Hanoi to try and organise another couple of tours before moving onto NewZealand. Take Care Love Ed and Ruth