Sapa - Wednesday 4th Let alone there not being a shower in the deluxe cabin, there was not one on board at all and, unless you fancied washing in the basin in the corridor, then you had to go smelly.There was the usual chaos outside the station as everyone was trying to work out where they should be to ensure they got the right bus up to take us to the village at Sapa.On the 30km steep drive up the mountain dawn was breaking and through our sleep deprived eyes...

Danang, China Beach - Saturday 31st Today we drove back down south towards Da Nang to our beach resort for some R&R.There was less traffic on the return journey, but lots of kids on their bikes coming home from school.They go to school six days of the week and they all ride bikes that are too tall for them, with their friends or siblings riding pillion.So nieces and nephews, when you are getting your lift to school 5 days a week, spare a thought for the ki...

Hue - Wednesday 28th As promised, our 'English speaking' driver to take us to Hue could speak English or, to be more precise, about two words of English. Maybe it was our fault for assuming that he might say a few more words than that, being our tour guide. (But, in any case, far better than our Vietnamese!). He did take us to MarbleMountains and then using universal communication, pointed a finger towards the lady with the ticket, while he went off for a snoo...

Hoi An - Sunday 25th We checked in to a pleasant hotel with a large, modern room, but we had the usual hassle of the DVD not working and no WIFI access in the rooms as promised in their glossy brochure. Went out to explore Hoi An, which is much more compact and a little less busy than Hanoi and full of tailors and shoe shops.There are quite a few tourists here and the town has a more relaxed atmosphere. However, just two seconds after we stepped out of the hot...

HalongBay -Thursday 22nd We were picked up by the tour guide and started the three-hour bus trip to HalongBay.Unfortunately, on the way we were playing with the camera to try and enhance the colour of our pics and managed to wipe off three days worth of photo's in Hanoi! To say that we felt sick is an understatement. The little Vietnamese boy sitting in front of us was quite cute and cheeky and went some way in helping to ease the pain.When we arrived at the d...