So the bus ride... 5pm Well the a little man on a bike collected us from the hostel and put us into a taxi. We picked up a few people from other hostels, each time with the guy on the bike there before us. I guess it makes it faster. 6pm We arrive at the bus station and a new guys meets us and hands us tickets. Alas we seem to be the last to arrive so don't get seats together. Tom: Yeah, so I was on my own near the back of the bus. Plus that guy who handed the...

Went to see the Ho chi minh Mausoleum today. It was very creepy to see an actual mummified person. I actually thought he was going to come to live and break throgh the glass coffin. The whole thing was very grand and I thought that it was good for them to celebrate one person who had done so much for the country. However Brett thought it was against the idea of communism, because it stressed the individual rather than the whole country. But whatever ya know. Bre...

Got up early today to arrive at Cat Ba island. It is very beautiful, green and mesmerising. It seemed like a wonderful trip to the hotel but nooooope! we went to a trek. And some of us only had sandals! The tour guide was funny. He kept throwing things at us and making monkey noises. Then he totally disappeared in the trek. We were treking up a massive hill/mountain. It was through jungle where the paved path wasn't as safe as other places I've treked. Like s...

Getting up early, we caught a bus to Halong Bay. We organised a tour through the hostel for 55 dollars and believe me it was well worth it. Actually in the bay on a junk boat we saw dramatic cliffs rising out of the sea, with its own jungle, our own junk boat weaving in and out of other ones. It actually looks like paradise. Brett: It was a nice short 3 hours ride to the habour then a short wait for the junk boat. Our guide, while enthusiastic, didn't have ...

We spent today just exploring Hanoi. Originally we planned to go the Lao Embassy but go there too late- so it'll have to wait till next week. We took a cab to Ho Chi Mihn's Morselieum . Alas it's only open in the morning and the museum is closed on Friday. So more stuff to do when we get back to Halong Bay. It'll fill in the time waiting for the Lao visa anyway! The outside of the building is really cool and I was very impressed at how the guards kept their...