Vietnam

We arrived in Hanoi in Vietnam on the 14th and went to see Hochi Minh. It was so cold in Vietnam compared to laos.

We thought the roads in Bangkok were bad, but that was nothing in comparison to Hanoi - so so many motorbikes. The only way to cross the road is to actually walk into the traffic. This took a bit of getting used to, but eventually we got it!

We went to a street bar which was literally plastic tables and the smallest seats you have ever seen and a keg of beer. The atmosphere was great. After this we headed to a club - the hangovers of the group the next day were as bad as we expected it to be!

The next day feeling a bit fragile we visited the prison and the water puppets. The water puppets were pretty good, not really sure what was happening though in the story!

On he 16th we started our journey to halong bay, I've been looking forward to this since the beginning of the trip. We were staying over night in the boat on the bay. The place is simply magical, so amazing! I feel very lucky to have seen this. I have never seen anything like it, even the sun made a rare appearance. The next day we climb up 190 steps to the top of one of the islands, the view was fantastic. In the afternoon we head back to Hanoi to get the overnight train to hue.

The train was great fun, we had a visit from Henry the mouse and watched the vietnam top gear special! After 15 hrs we arrive in hue. We then had a motorcycle tour and lunch at the local nunnery. This is the first time I've been on the back of a bike - a bit scary at times but great fun. On the tour we visited the American bunkers and heard the experiences our tour guide had in the war which was very moving.

In the morning the next day we headed off to see the pagoda and then a 4 hr drive to hoi an which has been my favourite place with halong bay in Vietnam. We had 3 nights in hoi an, a lovely town which have streets and streets of shops, including the tailors the top gear team went to. I could have spent longer here, so many little streets and shops to explore.

The next day is abseiling, the last time I did this was over 10 years ago so was a bit nervous. It was brilliant, the 60 metre drop was a bit frightening but I made it from the top into the cave and felt quite proud of myself. It was a very long way down!

The day after we went on a cycle tour which was good fun, we cycled through the rice fields and saw the water buffalo.

We headed to Saigon on the 22nd jan and went straight to the war museum. Every day in Vietnam we learnt something new about what happened in the war and the long lasting effect on the Vietnamese people, it was very upsetting to see.

The day after we set off to visit the chu chi tunnels which again was very informative . We managed to get through the 100m tunnel which was tiny, then we were told they had been widened for tourists, can't imagine going through anything smaller. In the evening we headed to the Rex, a rooftop bar that makes the best mojitos!

For our last day in Vietnam we went on a boat trip of the Mekong delta and visited various handy craft stalls, including the candy making one and honey producers. A good day out. In the evening the pizza craving got too much - the girls and me headed to Pizza Hut !

The next day we star our journey to cambodia.......