We wake up well rested after our first night in Hanoi, and awake to the tranquil sound of beep beep! After a more traditional breakfast (noodles and spring rolls) we head out into the city. I think there is probably one rule here and that is that the bikes have right of way everywhere, on the road, pavement and markets! The traffic is crazy, me and Maggie just have to chance it and walk slowly out into the road and then the bikes literally just swerve around you, beep beep! We make it to the other side safe and sound but it would be worth bringing a spare pair of underwear just in case!! We then walk around the Hoan Kiem Lake and visit a few temples, we take a rest at one of the temples to do a bit of people watching, the Bonzi trees are huge and very impressive (Doris would be in heaven). We walk back around the lake and Kaz gets mobbed by some fruit ladies, who puts her shallow basket bendy bamboo pole thingy and hat on Karen, 'picture picture'! We know this isn't for free, but we can get some good the pic's, I then get mobbed too. The pineapple is then put straight in your hand, 'you buy!' It gets a bit crazy after that so me and Maggie just walked off.

After this we then head to the Temple of Literature, this is an amazing old college stretching 150m, the gardens and architecture were really beautiful here. And strangely a Vietnamese girl asked to have her photo taken with me? Which also reminds me that Maggie gets a lot of looks and 'aawwws'. We were later told it is because in the same way we want a tan they want to keep as pale as possible and not to mention the biggest cup size here is probably a 30B (You can work that one out).

That evening we have some drinks (Beer is about 70p) and then go to the water puppet show. They try to charge you for taking photos (25p) before you go in but the Cornish in us prevails so we don't pay and take photos anyway. The show is about an hour and was surprisingly very good! We then go for something to eat at a restaurant in the old quarter I have a green curry and Kaz has a Chilli and Lemon Grass Chicken, the food is amazing! The people here are really friendly and we start talking to the lady owner, they ask a lot of fairly personal questions here but it's great, we have a really good time and before you know it she get's out her wedding photo's! Only little negative is I did see a massive rat, luckily Kaz didn't - a good 1st Day.

The next day we move hotels and wonder around the markets and shops, I get some tailored linen trousers, and Maggie has trouser taken up into three quarter lengths, we try bartering but there is definitely room for improvement. We get an iced chocolate at a local cafe and watch the world go by, we see a women pushing a wheel chair up the wrong side of the road, scooters carrying 4/5 people and one man had 6 barrels of beer strapped to his moped, the hustle and bustle is so funny! In the evening we meet our group, there are five of us and we go out for some good eating and then sit at a local road side stall for some fresh beer (10p a glass!).

The next day we head for Halong bay, the rice/paddy fields give a spectacular view along the way and the driver keeps the adrenaline pumping! They drive on the other side of the road into oncoming traffic, just expecting cars/bikes on the other side of the road to move over, it is so scary and there are a couple of close calls but the driver doesn't bat an eye lid! When we arrive in Halong we go for dinner and drinks.

In the morning we take our private boat through the Limestone Karsts and stop at a cave to view the stalactites and stalagmites, there is even one shaped like a giant boob! We get back on the boat and have a tasty sea food lunch including shrimp, a whole fish and squid. When we arrive a Cat Ba Island we take a short bus ride to the National Park for what will be a crazy trek…………………….running out of time so we will post some more in a couple of days including pictures.