Friday 18th October - Hoi An Jane said we were having a food tasting tour at 7am this morning so had us up at 6. Unfortunately it is to be tomorrow so nobody arrived at 7am & d*** was not amused. At about 7.30 Avenel & Owen, our AVO friends from Quang Ngai surfaced & it was great to see them. They led us into Hoi An from our plushy resort hotel where we wandered the old part of the town. It was an important port until 18th century when it silted up &...

Wednesday 16th October - Hanoi A later start today but after breakfast we walked around the corner to the Art Trendy where Emily, the travel consultant apologised yet again & then to our amazement, repaid the balance of the trip costs in cash in Dong, without any quibbling. We left as multi-millionaires!. She also arranged for our rail tickets to Da Nang for tonight. We walked around to the "Memorial House" listed in the Lonely Planet only to find that it w...

Tuesday 15th October - Hanoi Another ************* the train as it got back to Hanoi at about 5 am & at about 4.30 the PA system started with martial music & promotional material in Vietnamese & English all a t full blast in the corridor just outside our compartment. We were met at the station by a hotel person & were put in a cab to the hotel where the night porter was sleeping on a couch in the vestibule. After drinks & breakfast we sat ...

Sunday 13th October - Sapa At the station we were met by Pang, a Hmong lady from the hills, dressed in traditional dress who was to be our guide. She spoke excellent English but told us that she can neither read nor write but will learn from her eldest daughter who has started school. Pang took us for an excellent breakfast before we were driven to the Sunday market in Bac Ha one of the larger "villages" where we were shown round a massive range of stalls sell...

Wednesday 9thOctober Flew out of Perth on a Tiger flight to Singapore at 9.50pm. The flight was pretty full & the seat spacing was tight but we survived. Thursday 10th October - Hanoi Left Singapore at 10.00 am & arrived in Hanoi at about 2.30pm local time. We were met by a driver who took us into old Hanoi to the Art Trendy Hotel where we were greeted like long lost friends. The hotel is narrow & tall with 5 storeys. We went out for a walk t...