(Sorry for all the accents over a lot of these words, using a Vietnamese keyboard.)

So we finally left Hanoi, woop! Although to leave Hanoi we had to get on board our first night bus. This one was only 2 and a bit hours long (pretty sure it was meant to be 3 but the driver was crazy) but gave ús a taste òf what is to come. Because we were getting off at the first stop we were right at the front on the top bunk beds. The beds are a perfect size for me, so múst be pretty uncomfortable and crampt for everyone else! I thought being at the front would be good ás it meant we wouldn't rock about ás much ás at the back. In reality, it meant I had a perfect view òf the driver which wás not ideal. The guy was steering with his elbows whilst talking on his phone in one hand and smoking with the other. Mad. And we have 6 more of these to go! Mike had made some Spanish friends - the guy speaks to literally everyone - so that was a pretty good distraction.

On arival to Ninh Binh (so glad to get there!) two gúys from our guest house had come to mêet ús. On bikes. So we both got on the back òf a bike while a driver clung on to our over packed suitcases and set off to our guest house. (Pretty good first experience on a bike, was nice to get some breeze after the bús ìf nothing else!)

The next day we went on a tour around Nihn Binh. Thểre ís absolutely nothing to do in the tơwn itself (as we found out the next day, what a ghóst town) but thểre are some really beautiful sights nearby. Again on the back òf bikes we first went off to a look out point. We climbed up about 500 stone steps to the top which rewarded ús with a pretty great view òf the tơwn and mountains. Mike was also loving the attention from a group òf girls who kept giggling ás he walked passed them, jeese! We then went on to a place called Trang An where we took a rowing boat (we didnt rơw, simply sat and watched and gradually burnt a little) for about 3 hours dơwn the river. Again thểre were some great views around the mountains and through many caves that we rowed through. In the caves we had to get on the floor òf the boat, duck and push away from walls and squat which was hilarious. After we stopped for a bit òf lunch and bumped in to our Spanish friends from the bus. They were doing pretty much the same thing as us and it was nice to have some food with them. After we caried on to Bai Dinh which is a spiritual site of temples and Buddas (including a giant Budda) and pagodas. It's masive but still under construction so am sure it will be a lot mỏre impressive in a few years time. Back on the bikes we returned to the guest house (with amazing views òf the sunset over the mountains on the way back) where we had one òf the bést dinners yet, mainly due to the masses òf food (we were exhausted after the móst active day yet!) and the bést spring rolls. It's so good to be back seeing sights, enjoying food and moving around!