On Day 18 it was yet another exhaustingly early start, and back on the bus over the Hai Van Pass into South Vietnam. The pass was so beautiful, with stunning views of the wide sweeping bays below. It was interesting to pass over the top, where several bunkers remained from the various wars Vietnam has been through, just a reminder of how recent they were. Then it was back down into the south, and past the picturesque beaches and looming abandoned aircraft hangar...

On Day 13 it was yet another early start as we boarded our (by now much hated) bus to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is on the North Vietnamese coast near China, and is, you've guessed it, a bay. The name, in case you were interested, means Bay of the Descending Dragon. It's based on an old Vietnamese myth. We had a boat all to ourselves with very comfortable cabins and a nice chillout area on top to sunbathe, and we sailed out into the warm blue water, past the floating...

Well hi there! I guess you must be wondering if I'm dead because I haven't written in so long, but actually I have just been really busy, and in a land of very slow unreliable internet. I now have a week in Bangkok so I have decided to save up my blog and get it done here. There should be a new post on here every day for the next five days now... So I left you in Luang Prabang at the end of Day 8.... On day 9 we got up fairly early to go and visit a cultural m...