Hanoi can only be described as one word: Hectic! The streets are crammed full of shops, stalls and people and the roads are full of mopeds. Our hostel was situated in the Old Quarter, 10 minutes walk to Hoan Kiem lake and centred in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Vietnamese city life. There is no pavement due to the parked mopeds and you have to walk very cautiously along the side of the road to get to your destinations. This is definitely a place in whic...

We had heard a few horror stories about the junk boats on Halong bay, so upon booking our trip we wanted to be sure we was picking a descent tour. Our hostel had three different boats to choose from which all looked highly photoshop'd in the brochures that we was given to look through, however we had looked at a couple of other agencies beforehand and this seemed quite common. We had read tour reviews from the hostel and it seemed like everyone who had booked thr...

The 29th April had finally arrived and checking out of Hotel Marlin in Cartagena we began the long journey to Vietnam. Packed up with some sandwiches, crisps and biscuits we was all set and made the short 15 minute taxi ride to the airport. Four flights via Panama, Los Angeles and Taipei we would eventually be landing in Vietnam two days later on the 1st May, crossing the date line. The first flight to Panama was only an hour long and went very quickly. As the p...