Well, a hectic few days, with an overnight trip to Ha Long Bay, followed by a visit to the Perfume Pagoda, two trips that couldn't have been more different. The Ha Long Bay trip was luxurious, we were upgraded to a posher boat, we had a cabin with en-suite loo and shower, and all the punters were western tourists. We laughed on the minibus, because there was a German couple called Panzer, and an English couple, called the Hunns! We sat at the back imagining a sc...

Sal's blog update sums the day up well, she came up trumps with a great itinerary which ticked all the boxes, Hanoi is great for shopping and food, and even though it's almost impossible to walk on the pavements or cross the roads, it's a great place to wander around just looking at stuff. I've read that Saigon ( Ho Chi Minh City ) is even busier, but I can't get my head 'round that, 'cos it's so mad here! Cracking stuff we've seen so far includes; a bloke on a ...

I decided to do an update as well as Jeff today as our 1st full day in Hanoi was so good. I will attach a health warning that the whole update is shopping & food related!! Great start to the day with Vietnamese brekkie - coffee made with condensed milk ( see photo for coffee action shot), noodles & fried fish lots of my fav things at one sitting. Into the city for my shopping itinerary for the day ( thanks to Luxe city guides) and the shops surpassed all ...

Wow, not a good start to our visit to Viet Nam, as we land, a pair of stupid Yanks on our flight mistakenly take my bag from the over-head compartment on the plane, I'm convinced my bag's been robbed, 'cos i didn't see them take it, and I'm panicking like Michael Jackson's Doctor! Then, magically, my bag re-appears, with someone else's guide-book in it, and I'm now convinced the Yanks have planted drugs in it! That wasn't the case, as it turns out, they weren't ...