Back in Hanoi, we spent the next couple of days exploring again, this time with Dave and Laura, the English couple from Wigan we met on the boat. Night 1 - lets have some beer and noodles. What could go wrong... Has that saying ever been used and drama not followed? A big portion of street food cost £1. We paid the correct amount (this bit is important) and left - both us and the local woman happy. A few minutes later, the same local woman was running after ...

Widely documented as 'Asia's greatest city', Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, was our first base. A day didn't go by in Laos, Kenya, even Thailand, where the skies weren't picturesque blue and the sun didn't shine. Thang Long (Hanoi - City of the Soaring Dragon) however, had different ideas. We emerged into the grey gloom from our hostel and explored the 'Old Quarter', an area where people play chicken as they cross the roads, challenged by scooters, taxis and ...

Vietnam. A country America put on the map and in many cases, also blew it of it. With the stunning islands of Halong Bay, maybe the freshest food available on the entire planet and the country's amazing heritage, this is the place I've been looking forward to visiting for many years. We had two options for how to get from Laos to Vietnam. Road or Air. The road journey is known on the backpacker trail as being gruesome, long and uncomfortable - in many cases las...