Barry had promised the kids early morning kayak trips, so we got up extra early and they paddled around the bay before breakfast.

After we ate, we were back on board our boat and slowly heading back. The kids were a little sad that we couldn't stay longer with their new friends, but we have a lot of ground to cover in the next 10 days so we'd deliberately decided on only one night instead of two. The boat ride went quickly and though we'd left one British family behind, we now visited with another British family while the kids were busy babysitting a four-year-old Vietnamese girl who was very precocious and a lot of fun.

When Connor told the Brits that our next stop (after returning to Hanoi) was going to be Hoi An, they advised us that they had heard the weather there was catastrophic. The monsoon season was over, but a typhoon off the coast had caused additional flooding. Given that they were travelling with their 17-month-old daughter, they were concerned about the after-effects (cholera, etc.). The Vietnamese family had recently talked to friends in the area, and also advised that we shouldn't go. We were torn. Having heard so many good things about Hoi An, we didn't want to skip it; but, at the same time, disasters and pestilence were not part of our travelling plans.

When we got back to the hotel, the desk clerk phoned over to Hue, near Hoi An, and was told everything was fine and that sunshine was even in the forecast. We double-checked on the Internet and, sure enough, the forecast showed sunny skies ahead. The South Africaners were also torn as they were going there to dive. If the water was turbid with near zero visibility, diving would be out of the question. Our family decision (and David and Claudia's) was to proceed anyway. Our hotel and train tickets were already booked and we felt that if we arrived and it really was a disaster zone, we could just catch the next train to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), anyway.

The rest of the afternoon was a delight. The weather continued to be nice, so we went for lunch and then walked around the Old Quarter, checking out the market area and doing some people watching. We sat down for a while and talked about the history of Vietnam, hoping the kids will remember a lot of these experiences. At 6:30 pm, we went to the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre, which was cool even though it was all in Vietnamese, and then we went out for supper with David and Claudia. Connor and Margaret got weird meals, but everyone else enjoyed theirs.

We then returned to the hotel to catch free transfers to the train station, and by 10:30 p.m. we were settled away in our soft sleeper compartment for a good night's rest.