Hanoi airport, NoiBai, is clean and efficient and nibbling on my last banh mi roll with mystery meat we queued up for our flight to Hong Kong. Amusingly, everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) had a North Face puffer jacket on due to them being ridiculously cheap as knock-off from the factory based in Hanoi - we looked like a North Face catalogue come to life. In our slightly cramped cabin in seat 11F and E, I had a grade three faffer in front of me. He was up and down...

Hanoi is regarded as the 'gateway' to Vietnam. This iconic city has been the capital of Vietnam (on and off) since AD1010, when Emperor lay Thai To moved his capital here. Despite war with the Chinese, French and Americans the city still holds firm and much of its bombed splendour has been restored. With a full day to mwtch about before our flights tomorrow we decided to stretch our legs and see a few more of the capital's sights. Our first stop was Hanoi's C...

Thrashing Tommy (our tour guide, whose actual name was Luongtrong Pham) was my last act on Monkey Island before our boat came to collect us. The boat's roof top was glorious on the way back. The sun bashfully decided to raise its head and a shisha pipe was brought out. The image of a shisha pipe looks pretty intimidating, like a bong that's been made to look pretty with a colourful hose attached. We had some watermelon infused tobacco and puffed it between us a...

Halong Bay was once a fierce battle ground that saw one of Vietnam's heroes, General Tran Hung Dao, defeat Chinese invasion three times. His most famous victory, in 1288, sealed Vietnam's sovereignty and was masterfully done. Under his instruction after dark, sharpened bamboo poles - that were designed to be invisible at high tide - were set vertically in the water. Small Vietnamese boats, that easily passed between the poles, goaded the Chinese fleet towards the...

As with everything in Vietnam that is either impressive, strange or unique, there is a legend to accompany it and Ha Long Bay is no different. Sailors have frequently relayed tales of a mysterious aquatic animal known as the 'tarasque'; reportedly a creature of gigantic proportion lurking in its waters. Some believe that this creature is actually a spy submarine whilst other, perhaps more fanatical listeners, believe that what has been seen is Vietnam's version o...