Last night I decided on an early alarm as we had to be on our way by 8am. I was up and eating breakfast by 6.40. I had an omelette this time but somehow there was no taste to it. The American style crispy bacon just didn't work either and the muffin was full of candied fruit, so once again I left the breakfast table wanting. Today was our cooking lesson! Vietnamese style. Nam escorted us over to the Red Bridge restaurant in the pouring rain, where we sat an...

Today we had the morning to ourselves for a spot of retail therapy in the old town. Some of the others were considering getting our bikes early and cycling the 5 kms to the beach. Me? I had my heart set on a lie in with a leisurely breakfast, followed by a gentle mooch round the shops.  My lie in hopes died at about 8.30 along with the chambermaids cleaning the room next door. So up I got and trotted over to the restaurant for my brekkie. Some of the buffet ite...

So today we are off to Hoi An. A short plane trip to Da Nang, followed by a shortish trip to the hotel.The bags had to be packed and ready for 8.45, we were leaving at 9am.. I wasn't sad to leave Hanoi really, it was just so noisy and choc full of people. The beeping horns were incessant and crossing the road required nerves of steel!Nam promised us that Hoi An would be completely different. There were traffic free times when just bicycles were allowed, so it...