After a night spent in Singapore airport and 5 non eventful days in Bangkok, awaiting our visas for Vietnam and obiding by the 10pm curfew set by the military coup, we flew to Hanoi, Vietnam.

What a culture shock!! With a growing population of over 7 million and a surface area of just over 3000 squared kilometres it is classed as one of the world's most densely populated cities. It felt like the entire population was in that town centre, all piled on to motorbikes, selling their goods or tempting tourists to hop on a cyclo. The heat and humidity were something else! It was unlike anywhere we had been before. We took straight to the streets and immersed ourselves in the hustle and bustle, sampled some street food and almost immediately became overwhelmed and needed to escape to the top of the highest building we could find in an attempt to escape the crowds and the heat. We watched from a roof top bar over the town square while westerners played frogger with the Vietnamese traffic. It was then that we learned; if you're going to survive the streets of Hanoi, you have to just go and hope the traffic will avoid you!!

We had 2 days in Hanoi. One of which we spent writing postcards and reading our books in the cheapest bar we could find - Gecko. Where the beer was 45p and the food was decent and cheap. The heat was just too much! Almost 40 degrees and incredibly humid. The other we spent trying to sight see in the heat but we didn't even get to touch the surface - getting as far as Hoen Kiem Lake which was by far the most peaceful attraction. I would like to say that one day we'll go back to find out a little more about the history of Hanoi but we've both decided that we are far better suited to an island lifestyle!! So we'll just have to remain uncultured in terms of Vietnams capital city. We did, however, visit the water puppet theatre to watch their famous puppet show. Very interesting and worth a visit.

With money tight, we wanted to visit Ha Long Bay but we didn't want to pay the $100 per person price tag. And with questionable reviews of the over night trips we decided that we would take a chance and do it like the locals!

From Hanoi we caught a bus and a ferry to the island of Cat Ba - 6 hours/$10 x2 (return)

We stayed in a cheap hotel on the island - 2 nights/$24

We then took a boat trip from Cat Ba to Ha Long Bay - full day/$30 x 2

So we saved ourselves just under $100 and had a great full day trip in comparison to the 2 day 1 night junk boat trips where you spend most of your time travelling. I'd recommend this option to anyone travelling to Ha Long Bay on a budget.

We also got to enjoy a day exploring Cat Ba where we found some amazing views of Long Ha and Ha Long Bay. We hired a motorbike and visited an underground hospital used in the war, a placed called cannon fort where we took some amazing photos, attempted a walk around the national park (not lasting long due to the heat!) and bought a pair of real pearl earrings from the islands pearl farm for $1!

Our day cruising around ha long bay was incredible. It's proudly claimed by locals as the eighth wonder of the world and rightly so! The breathtaking sight of almost 2000 limestone karsts rising out of the turquoise waters whilst drifting along on a little wooden boat was incredibly peaceful. Add to that a trip to a cave to rival that of the ones we visited in New Zealand, a great group of people, swimming, kayaking, a floating village and seafood market, a delicious fresh seafood lunch and jumping off of the top of the boat into the sea made for a memorable and fun day! We finished it off back in cat ba with dinner and drinks with some new friends.

Back to the craziness of Hanoi! The cheapest and quickest way to escape was a night bus to Hue (pronounced hoo-ay). Another experience like no other!! With a combination of erratic driving, inappropriate and abundant honking, over-efficient air conditioning, regular pit stops to pick up and drop off locals and goods, a tv blaring out a foreign movie then the radio playing 'Barbie Girl' and a bus load of nervous westerners, it's safe to say that the bunk beds were pretty pointless as there was little sleep going on!

We arrived in Hue to a beautiful hotel with fresh fruit, smoothies and a delicious breakfast. We needed a day to relax and catch up on sleep after that ordeal!

Hue, the countries ancient capital was beautifully unexpected. We turned 1 day into 3. Exploring markets, traditional houses, the royal tombs and pagodas, hopping on a dragon boat along the perfumed river and visiting the citadel and imperial city. As well as meeting up with John and Amy, friends from our trip to Cat Ba, for dinner and drinks. We thought it would just be a stop over on the way to Hoi An but were pleasantly surprised.

Our journey to Hoi An was another interesting bus experience! 4 hours and this time the air conditioning was far from over efficient! It was a very sweaty 4 hours!

Hoi An, again, differed from the other Vietnamese areas we had visited. It had more of a European feel and was focussed completely of tailoring. Here we spent 5 days and came out with; custom made shoes, a cashmere suit and two tailored dresses!! The food was incredible, cheap and plentiful! We spent our days on the beach which we'd craved after the busy capital cities and sight seeing in the heat. Being by the coast it was slightly cooler. Slightly. Hoi An lit up at night time, with lanterns as far as the eye could see and plenty of bars and restaurants to choose from. A very enjoyable few days. Our favourite food dishes were 'Cau Lau', Vietnamese sandwiches, white rose, pho and bbq pork spring rolls. I wish I had done another cooking class here!!

Our next stop, Nha Trang, meant hopping on another night bus!! This time we thought we were being clever, securring three seats at the back which acted as a double bed. Little did we know, there would be more pick ups and George would end up sharing that bed with two Vietnamese men. One of them being extremely large and smelly!! I made a quick escape to a single bunk!! Another memorable event!! Not so enjoyable for George!!

Nha trang, yet again, had a very different feel. This time very touristy and full of Russians. We had two nights here and spent our days on the beach but got out of there very quickly. It was more expensive and everything came at a cost. We couldn't sit in a chair without having to pay for the privilege.

The bus journeys from here on are short. And hopefully sweat! It took 4 hours to get to Da Lat on a comfortable mini bus. We are up in the mountains and it feels cold!!! I'm back in leggings and jumpers. It's 28 degrees!!! Jeez are we going to have a shock when we get home!!! Da Lat, AGAIN, is unlike the other parts of Vietnam. It's a mountain town with lots of little businesses. All the locals wear big winter coats and the air feels fresh. Goodbye humidity! We've seen cafes serving cat and dog and we've been warned against the street food. We had two questionable meals on our first day so have decided to stick to the trip advisor recommended western restaurants! Just in case!

Yesterday we went on a trip that I would never have imagined in a million years I'd go along with... Canyoning!!!! We were told that it was not to be missed! And we just couldn't let the opportunity pass!

The day involved climbing up to the top of a waterfall then absailling back down, going down natural water slides and diving off of cliffs.

We started by practising on a slight decline in the jungle. We put on some crusty trainers and our harnesses and practised the technique of walking down then jumping. This part was nerve wracking but doable! Then came the real serious stuff!! An 18 meter dry rockface next to a waterfall, followed by a 3 meter cliff jump! For me, this took a few attempts as my body just said no!!! But eventually I did it and felt extremely proud! George ran off the edge, no problem!! After a swim under the waterfall, we then trekked through the jungle along the waters edge and found the first natural water slide!! We got a few bumps and bruises but it was incredibly fun!! There was one more dry cliff face and my fear level just seemed to be rising and the absailling wasn't getting any easier!! I crawled down at a snails pace unable to remove my feet from the wall to jump down. George was down the bottom in 5 or 6 leaps! More swimming followed by more crazy water slides - head first!! We trekked up to the top of a 25m waterfall where we had a delicious picnic of Vietnamese sandwiches and fresh fruit. All the while, giving me more time to get anxious about our first wet absail! This was full on! Water rushing with a 5 meter drop in to the water at the bottom. OH GOD!! George and our friend Amy went first. George got down through the waterfall no problem but wasn't a fan of the drop and the bottom where you ran out of rope and just dropped. My experience was slightly different. I slipped and fell into the water. Water rushing, I had to find my footing and push myself back out again. I was terrified!!! I couldn't see a thing! I quickly corrected myself and raced to the bottom and by the time the rope ran out I didn't even think about the drop! I went as quickly as possible to find George and Amy cheering my on. Unbelievable! Straight to the 11m cliff jump, slightly in shock and letting my fears take over, I chickened out!! Kind of unsurprisingly! 11 meters running off of a cliff edge is slightly ridiculous!!! Even George could understand my thinking here!! He, on the other hand, was the first crazy person to do it then he went up for a second time to front flip from 7 meters and loved it! The last part of the day was a wet absail down a cliff which involved lowering yourself into a waterfall - nicknamed 'the washing machine'. Once dropping you had to let the water suck you under then push you out. This was by far the scariest of the day. Even the tour guides admitted to that! I wanted to get it over with quickly but wanted George to be at the bottom waiting so he went first and I followed. He enjoyed the experience but describes it as 'f***ing mental' so you can imagine how I coped. I'm actually feeling tight chested and anxious just writing about it!! I got half way down and launched in to a full blown panic attack something I have never experienced before. By the time the water pushed me out, I couldn't breathe. The poor guide didn't know what to do! George stopped filming and helped calm my breathing down which took a few minutes.

Coming on this trip, I decided that I would do things that put me out of my comfort zone and push me physically and mentally. This activity is something I could never have even thought about before and I'm surprised at myself for not chickening out and going through with it. I feel proud and despite my 'drama queen' moment, I feel like I overcame a lot. I did it and I'm still alive! Nothing bad happened! In fact, it was pretty amazing! Now to work on getting over this over-thinking habit that I seem to have!!

Last night, George, John, Amy and I went for a well deserved treat of burgers, wine, ice cream and chocolate milkshake! Joined by James, who we'd met that day. Today, it's 1pm and I'm still in bed! Aching like hell!! Soon we'll get up and do some sight seeing and were thinking about going on a motorcycle trip tomorrow. Our next stop is Mui Ne, then Ho Chi Minh and the Mekong delta.

Vietnam - what an adventure!!!!