Left Hanoi by overnight train, in a shared compartment - This time we shared with two young Irish guys from Belfast. A couple we met in Halong Bay (Lin and Ian) were also on the same train and joined us - the 6 of us had the "craic" aided by a few beers until the trolley service ran out ….. Train travel is growing on us.

Arrived in Hue (pronounced Whey) and spent a couple of days exploring, including parts of the Ho Chi MinhTrail, the DMZ (De-Militarised Zone) and the Vinh Moc tunnels - Miles of tunnels 26 metres underground to keep safe from American bombing - Interesting stuff.

We moved on to HoiAn (confusing anagram of Hanoi) by private car and on the way took a break on a deserted beach, well almost deserted - There was one other couple on the beach and it turned out the guy came from Carrigaline, where cousin Pauline lives with her husband Maurice and family. Small world this guy Michael Barratt (on honeymoon with new wife Susie) also played football with one of Pauline's sons (Neilly)

Arriving in HoiAn we booked into a 4 star hotel with a swimming pool (well we needed a holiday).

The Vodka had leaked en-route and all Heather's clothes were wet and smelled of vodka - Heather was distraught - "what shall we do?" she asked Dan - Always quick to react to an emergency Dan immediately suggested buying a new bottle of vodka.

Day two we went on a cycling tour into the countryside, through villages and Paddy fields then past immovable Water Buffalos ( we basically treated them like roundabouts) - The company provided bikes and safety helmets, which were made of bamboo (the helmets not the bikes) It must be the conical shape that provides the impact protection.

We took a day on a cooking school - Great fun and great food - Friends beware when we get back.

Heather had a dress made, we ate some of the best food of our trip, drank a little, swam at night in the rain, met about 50 frogs in full chorus on our late return to the hotel one night - Brilliant time …… then all too quickly our holiday was over and it's back to travelling and a shared overnight train to our next destination.