After leaving Saigon, we arrived in Nha Trang, where we spent a couple of days lounging around on the beach, and out on a boat cruising around the islands. We visited a small fishing island and then got small bamboo boats back to our charter boat, which was a lot better than the one in Cambodia. We also did a bit of fishing, swimming and snorkelling.

After Nha Trang, we then got another overnight train to Hoi An; we're getting used to these trains now, they're quite good fun if you have enough beers and there aren't too many rats. Although someone did forget to wake me up and I ended up getting 30 seconds notice before I had to get off the train. That wasn't one of the highlights...

In Hoi An we had a nice hotel with a pool, where we spent quite a bit of time as it was so hot (nearly 100 degrees most days). We also managed to get Elle a suit made, after a few minor issues that were resolved with a few friendly words, 5 minutes before we were due to leave.

We spent quite some time in the town, which was quite European, with lots of cafes lining the river front and some posh restaurants. We did a day trip to some ancient ruins at My Son, which were pretty good but not a patch on Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

For a change, we got a bus to our next stop, Hue, but made a few stops on the way at China Beach, Marble Mountain (where there were some spectacular views of Hoi An and the surrounding area), and a lovely private beach for lunch at a very smarty hotel, which was a bit eerie as there were hardly any people around as it's low season.

In Hue, we visited the citadel and Forbidden Palace, and also did a tour on a cyclo (see the photos) which started off very well, and ended quite amusingly when our drivers insisted we pay more than we'd initially agreed, because they'd taken longer than agreed to get us around. It ended with one of the drivers throwing our money on the ground and us leaving him to it. Needless to say, he soon picked it up as soon as we left and went on his way.

After Hue, we got our last overnight train of the tour up to Hanoi. After 1 night there, we had a day trip to Halong Bay, where we spent the day cruising around in a bay that was very similar to around Phuket - loads of limestone islands dotted around, and hundreds of boats like the one above floating around. We spent the night on Cat Ba island, where we had intended to do some kayaking the next morning. Unfortunately, we were up half the night battering cockroaches with shoes in our room, so we missed the alarm clock and had a lay in instead.

The rest of the time in Hanoi we spent either eating at a very nice western cafe that served the best Branston pickle and cheddar cheese sandwiches I've ever had, or wandering around the lake in the old part of town. We had our farewell dinner where we all said our goodbyes, then a farewell drink or 2 at Beer Corner, a crossroads with tiny bars on each corner that serve draught beer for about 11p.

One of the nights we also pushed the boat out and went to the western cafe and had a bottle (or 2) of nice red wine and some steak; definitely the best meal we've had in 3 months.

Now the tour has ended, we have to decide what's up next. We'll probably head up to northern Vietnam to do some trekking, and then fly off to Thailand, but we'll keep you posted.