Xin Chao from Vietnam (pronounced Sin Chow!) This is part one of two Vietnam blogs, done a lot!

We are coming to the end of our time here and have had a wonderful month travelling down this amazing country. After 5 months travelling through mainly Western countries we arrived in Hanoi, expecting things to be pretty different! And they were... Drove into Hanoi from the airport, paddy fields on either side of the road. There were mopeds weaving all over the place, loaded up with everything you can imagine - including live pigs in baskets!

Stayed in a nice hotel in the old Quarter, the heart of Hanoi. Spent a few days just walking around taking it all in. There are 1.5 million motorbikes in Hanoi and the roads are chaos! No pedestrian crossings so you just have to walk out into the traffic and watch as the mopeds swerve around you - pretty nerve-racking at first but we got right into it. Had a laugh at Westerners who would stand at the roadside for ages waiting for a gap in the traffic - there never is one! Tried loads of Vietnamese foods, including beef noodle soup for breakfast everyday. Enjoyed the beer too of course, especially the Bia Hoi stalls. This is just a little shop with tiny plastic chairs out on the street (tiny chairs for the tiny Vietnamese people!). Beer comes straight from the barrel and only costs 2,000 dong per glass. That's 6p!! Was great just sitting with our beers watching the frantic street life going on infront of us.

Spent a few days in the Northern Mountains, near the Chinese border. Travelled there on the overnight sleeper train from Hanoi. First time we've been on a sleeper train - we'll try the Orient Express next! Visited a local market and saw the many groups of ethnic miority people who live in this area. They are very different from 'normal' Vietnamese, with separate customs, languages and dress. The market was really busy and rather unhygenic! Raw meat and fish just sat on wooden counters next to puddles of dirty water. Also saw people buying water buffalo to work their fields, and dogs in baskets for dinner! Not a nice thought.

Did some trekking through the hills along paths between the rice terraces - classic scenes. Saw a lot of mud houses - some really poor people around here but always so happy and smiley and saying hello to us as we pass by. Stayed with a local family in a small village and got a taste of the way they live. This was a nicer house made from bamboo and wood - the tourist dollar at work. Was still quite basic though and the kitchen had a dry mud floor and cooking pots over a coal fire. Also getting used to the basic squatting toilets that the poorer people have. A bit stinky but it's all part of experiencing their way of life! Had lovely food that evening (can use chopsticks now too, seen as we've had to at practically every meal we've had in Nam!) and loads of home-brewed rice vodka, 'Happy Water' as they call it! Even though they didn't speak much English we still had a good laugh and even watched an old film about Boney M! They love that music out here, so we were singing along together - very surreal! Had a look round the village the next day, after narrowly avoiding a venomous snake in the field (well spotted, Phil!). Went to the local school where Phil had a game of footy with the kids! They were impressed with his skills!

The northern mountains were really quite spectacular and we had a good 3 days trekking up there. It was amazing the difference in temperature though. We knew it'd be cooler than Hanoi but not as cold as it was. It felt like we were at home in November, it was very misty and cool. Nice atmosphere though and the town of Sa Pa, (1600m above sea level) had a lovely alpine feel to it, could have been in Bavaria or somewhere similar! Before we got the sleeper train back to Hanoi we quickly nipped to the Vietnamese/Chinese boarder in Lao Cai town. Didn't go over it though but saw China over the river!

After that taste of traditional life we got on the real tourist trail with a 3 day boat cruise around Ha Long Bay. It was the low season but still hundreds of traditional 'junks' were docked at the port waiting to take tourists around the world heritage site. It's a massive area of limestone islands covering 250 sq. km and is one of the most recognisable places in Vietnam. Our boat was pretty nice and we had a double room on the bottom level. Visited a few of the large islands and walked through a massive limestone cave which looked like a film set - stalactites and stalagmites everywhere.

It was nice sitting up on the sun deck just admiring the amazing rock formations all around the bay. Visited a floating fishing village, one of many dotted around. Did some canoeing on the calm waters, close to the rocks and through a tunnel into a lagoon surrounded by high cliffs. Had more delicious seafood, did a cycling tour on Cat Ba island and visited an ancient cave used by the Viet Cong to hide from the Americans during the war. There is so much to see in this area and we only covered a small area but it was a really good tour. The Vietnamese love English football and when we say we are from England they always mention it! Phil taught our guide the words to "you'll never walk alone" which was funny. Video to follow........

Back to Hanoi for one night before catching an early flight down south the next day, destination Hoi An..... to be continued....