Today was our street food tour with Han. The whole day was so interesting and (mostly) tasty food. James had the cheek to suggest Han was a better guide than me, a little unfair to be honest. Han's favourite saying was 'to try a little, I want you to taste everything.' We were all very brave and tried everything. Our food favourites were the DIY spring rolls, Banh chi and the egg cream coffee. M&D would have situated themselves on Coffee Street for sure...

We had breakfast earlier today as we had a date with Ho Chi Minh The Vietnamese love Uncle Ho so much that when he died his body was preserved and is kept in a huge mausoleum in Hanoi for people to see, well apart from between the months of September to December when he goes on holiday to Russia to be maintained. You can only visit Uncle Ho in the morning so we took a taxi and joined the huge queue. It was a bizarre experience; the whole place is heavily guard...

James and I made the move into Hanoi rugby elegance and after a short wonder around some of the nearby streets in an attempt to get bearings we waited patiently in our lovely room for Chris and Gail's (G&C) arrival. It was so good to see them after 7 months. We didn't do too much as everyone was tired so we made a POA for the next day and headed to the Gecko for a rest and a snack and Chris and Gail's first taste of Hanoi beer! Golden drum was our next poi...