We arrived in Hanoi on the 4th after our horrific bus journey. We were warned by two friendly Vietnamese girls on our bus not to pay too much for our taxi as they try to rip off foreigners. But, of course being the idiots that we are we ended up paying 450,000 dong for it instead of 50,000. We arrived at Hanoi backpackers Downtown and were happy to be in a busy, buzzing hostel which was full of backpackers drinking at the bar. This was what we needed after our boring time stuck in Vientiane and the terrible 29 hour bus ride. So we quickly checked in, showered and got ready for a well needed night out. The three of us headed to the hostel bar with a guy called Jordan who was in our room and began drinking. The hostel bar closed at 11pm and then the reps took us on a bar crawl. The first place called Hair of the Dog was a little strange. There were loads of Vietnamese people going wild on the dance floor. Upstairs we found all the backpackers and had some laughing gas and some buckets. Sarah went home after this as she felt ill. Lisa and Ellie powered through the night and went to the next club and stayed out until about 4pm. The reps kept buying us lots of shots and Jäger bombs and we were steaming.

The next day the three of us went with this girl called Daina who we met tubing to a really nice resort to use their pool, which had a a amazing view, overlooking the lake and the city. Afterwards we went for some street food on the famous plastic chairs back in downtown and had the best food we've ever had in Asia! Then of course we had to do some shopping and all brought new bikinis and swimsuits in preparation for CASTAWAY!

We woke up early on the 6th to go on our much anticipated castaway trip, which began by getting several buses and boats across to Halong Bay where we would be staying. When we were sailing in on the boat to the Bay we were amazed by the stunning rock islands all around, apparently there are over 3000. We also saw a floating fishing village and then when we arrived at our bay we were mesmerised by it's beauty. It was just this tiny little sandy bay with a few beach huts for us to stay in, tucked in amongst the huge rocks. Our group was greeted by the group there from the night before and we all had a buffet lunch. Then our group set off on our booze cruise. The booze cruise was amazing. There were lots of drinking rules, such as, left arm drinking and when you drink with the other arm and some one calls Buffalo on you, you must then down your drink. We were caught out by this a lot, which resulted in the three of us being very drunk. If you then down your drink with your right arm again you get duffalo'd and must buy a new drink to down. If you then down that drink again with your right arm you get truffalo'd and you are basically retarded. Ellie got truffalo'd and was known for the rest of the trip as truffles! Before we boarded the boat we found out they were only going to sell beer, which we were not happy about, so kicked up a fuss and convinced them to bring on vodka. This was very successful, however, the vodka soon ran out and so one of the reps from the island came on a little speed boat to pass us over a box of alcohol. We now had more vodka, gin and tequila and so as you can imagine things got very very messy. We all jumped off the boat into the sea and swam around for a bit before heading back. We had such a good group on the booze cruise, everyone got on really well and everyone was ready to continue drinking back at the bay.

Dinner and getting ready was a drunken blur. Ellie joined in a game of volley ball with the boys on the beach which the Vietnamese man was not happy about - apparently the game was 'serious not for fun' and she wasn't doing very well! We began playing beer pong at the bar on the bay and learnt a new game: slap, flip cup, which is amazing! Ellie challenged the Vietnamese man who she had played volleyball with to a game of pool which she won and he was not happy about either! She then challenged Sam who was running the tour to a game and she decided the forfeit was that whoever lost had to do a tequila shot whilst doing a handstand. This was a silly idea as she then lost and did a handstand with Steph pouring a tequilas shot which went mostly up her nose and was very painful...she could still feel it up there the next day! Because everyone was so drunk from about 2pm everyone was absolutely para and people started disappearing off to bed about 12am. Lisa stayed out later with a few other people and went to look at plankton in the sea. She was so drunk and was ripping off bits of the coral and picking it up out of the water and saw a massive line of bright blue plankton which looked like a long UV glow stick and then after a few seconds it faded. Her eye started to itch and felt like something was stuck in it whilst in the sea. She went to bed on a bean bag outside the room as she was so drunk and woke up with her right eye massive and swelled shut. Ellie and Sarah were horrified and got Lisa some ice and clear eyes eye drops. She lay in bed with ice on her eye and the swelling went down. But throughout the day both her eyes started to get more and more blood shot and she had full blown conjunctiveitess/pink eye!

After breakfast we all sunbathed hungover and Lisa, Ellie, Sarah and Kate and Steph who we met on the island went canoeing. The view of all the islands was really pretty, but we soon got bored of canoeing and our arms ached. Back at shore Ellie joined in an amazing game of beer pong/flip cup with James, Tuesday, Pritch, Jetti and Joe. Ellie and James won by a mile and held there title as goon pong champions for the rest of the trip! After lunch the reps were getting the tubing ready for us. Lisa decided not to do it because it would make her eyes worse,so she went on the speed boat which pulled the tube to watch Ellie, Sarah, Steph and Kate. When they got on the tube, and dragged into the sea by a rope from the speed boat Ellie was absolutely terrified and genuinely panicking! They all went flying round corners and up in the air until they all fell off the tube and smacked into the water...this was extremely painful! It was one of the most terrifying things Ellie had done but was hilarious and so much fun.

In the evening it was round 2 for the drinking. Yesterday's group left and our group was joined by a new group. The reps organised for us to do some mass drinking games. We all got totally sideways. Sam the manager was giving our group like 7 tequila shots in a row for free. Things got very messy. Sarah threw up early doors, but powered through the night. Ellie and Steph decided it was good idea to climb onto the ceiling beam and dance on that...it's a miracle they didn't fall off. Lisa was running around para shouting thunder buddies when there was an incredible thunderstorm and then threw up as well. The majority of the group got into he sea again during the thunderstorm and to see the plankton. The whole night was a drunken blur, but a very very good night. Maybe even the best night of our travels.

The next day we all woke up hanging. After breakfast Ellie realised she had lost her shorts when she had gone into the water the night before in her swimsuit. Her and Steph searched the whole island and eventually found them on the edge of the shore just in time before they were washed away! They decided it would be good idea to have another vodka before we all had to make our way back to Hanoi on the long journey feeling sorry for ourselves as the hangovers and the withdrawals from the beautiful Halong Bay kicked in.

The journey was much much longer than expecting after numerous boats and buses and stops for lunch. When we got back Ellie and Lisa went to hospital Rich (who had cut his foot) to sort out Lisa's eyes. They gave her some eye drops and medicine which turned out to be useless and a waste of money. Back at the hostel Ellie, Sarah, Steph and Kate decided to have one last night out in Hanoi. They started on the margarita slushies before heading to Hair of the Dog with the crew from Castaway. Everyone was drinking and doing laughing gas. Sarah and Kate decided to call it a night but Ellie and Steph headed to the next club with the others. They played pool, drunk more whiskey, and sat on a table which collapsed underneath them. At this point they decided to head home, thinking they knew the way but soon realising they hadn't got a clue. Luckily the others knew the way and so they went back with them and had a delicious kebab.

After breakfast the following morning we chilled upstairs at the hostel, had some amazing street food and went to look at the bikinis...again. We were casually getting ready to go thinking we had plenty of time. We all went downstairs and said goodbye to Sarah Steph and Kate and took photos. When we actually went to get on the coach (nearly an hour after we had been told to catch it) we realised we had missed it. The girl at the hostel was very apologetic and paid for a taxi to take us to catch up with the coach even though it was clearly our fault. Everyone on the coach thought we were mad.