Roughly 20km outside of Halong, the heavens opened and I got caught in the mother of all downpours. The rain lasted for near enough the whole journey and I arrived Hanoi looking and feeling like a bit of a drowned rat. Although everything was soaked right through, spirits weren't dampened and it was a great, albeit slightly emotional, final journey. Just as the case has been for the last four weeks, the bike kept on going, despite Mother Nature throwing everythin...

It would have been rude not to have met up with some of the friends I had met in Cambodia and we celebrated my last night in Sa Pa. I left in the morning late and a little hungover. It was a two day ride of just over 500km. That morning, I had planned to travel along the Chinese border and then the following day, drop down onto the coastline of Halong Bay. It hasn't been the most exciting of days, not helped by the unimpressive and decidedly grey-looking Chinese ...

Raf and I arrived in Sa Pa quite late, having stopped on the way at a waterfall that was just outside of the town. We acted as interested and as enthusiastically as we possibly could after a three long days of riding. The waterfall was nice and I'm glad we went to see it but all I really wanted (and needed) was a hostel with shower. I met up with George who was a 2 day veteran of Sa Pa. I met him at the hostel that he had been staying at, checked in and had, what...

What I thought was going to be a few boring days of riding, has turned out to be some of the best and most memorable days I've had in SE Asia. I left Phong Nha slightly apprehensively, unsure whether my bike would hold out after the repairs but at the same time excited for what the next leg of my journey would bring. Although I had a rough idea, I gave up trying to plan an exact place where I would stop for the night. Most places seem to have some kind of hotel ...

I had a nice rest in Phong Nha, albeit a short one- with just 11 days left on my visa, time really is precious and still with so much to see, every day counts. It seems to be an up and coming town, becoming more popular with tourists, especially when it has so much to offer. The town itself is situated within the Phong Nha National Park which is packed with mountains, rivers, waterfalls and caves. There are loads of activities to do here, depending on your budge...