Blog 18 A 12 hour night train found us arriving bleary eyed in sapa. Beers on the train with friends in our compartment helped us sleep a bit. The day we arrived we eventually organised a lady to do a trek and home stay with, (after some heated village politics between the local ladies fighting to take us). We arranged a 3 day 2 night Trip up to Susu's village and back. The weather wasn't great for views because of the low foggy cloud. By the time we arrived ...

Blog 17a Forgot to say we had a quick 2 night stop over in Hanoi after Halong Bay. Mainly just recovering and seeing the sights. Went to a traditional water puppet show which was good but cheesy. Good to see a bit of culture. Said good bye to a few friends before heading back off to Sapa. Love Jo x x x

Blog 17 A four hour bus ride brought us to the coast again, and with it halong bay. My first thought was that Google images weren't doing this place justice. It was going to be a good few days. We boarded a boat; our boat for a day and a night, and were introduced to Tuan, our tour guide of the 'booze cruise'. An amazing lunch (Ross got squid) and half an hour sunbathing, we arrived in the central bay area. A trip around a gigantic cavern, the biggest I've eve...

Blog 16 A blur of motorbikes and pho stalls. Still travelling with our group of 10 and loving it. A couple of nights is this metropolis was plenty before we headed off for a party cruise in Halong Bay. Breakfasts mainly entailed pho (breakfast of Viet kings) at street stalls. A new favourite meal of Asia. Bit weird having noodle soup for breakfast to start with but definitely getting used to it. Took a free walking tour from our hostel which was funny. She...

Blog 15 Beaches and citadels. A sleepy 4 hour bus ride brought us to hue, a cosmopolitan city that doesn't offer much in terms of sightseeing. A simple cyclo ride around the citadel showed us what we needed and we headed to the bar... Why not? bar, a regular attraction in Vietnam. With an afternoon to kill the next day before a grueling 15 hour night bus to Hanoi, we rented motorbikes and headed for the beach. A couple of hours swimming and sunbathing on a des...