Day 33 30th Dec Alarm fires off at 6.45 and we're up, packed and down stairs by 7.03 More cornflakes with egg on toast, served by the most attentive girls in Vietnam.. As soon as we finish we load the bike up and tie everything down tight and we are off... 90 km ahead lies our destination.... Ninh Binh. Setting off involves us using a very busy roundabout that's built into a flyover that's outside our hotel, this involves us using the old quarters roads ...

Day 32 Today is a lazy day... It's our last in Hanoi and we've seen everything we want to see.... We just wonder the streets and end up having lunch on tiny plastic stools cooking our own meat on a camping stove that's in a plastic table that's a foot off the ground.... The meats really good, as is the veg that came with it.... It all tastes good and we enjoy this meal, watching the works go by at a child's hight.... I've decided I want to get all our gear on...

Day 28 Xmas Christmas Day really does feel like any other day here.... We've seen a few Christmas films on the telly and that's how we start today...... Scrooge is on and we are happy just to sit and watch it. We enjoy some simple cornflakes and wonder into the old quarter again..... Its a labyrinth of streets and feels new every time we venture in.... Shiree's had a massage and pedicure since being in Asia and hasn't really enjoyed either, but is looking for...

Day 27 I wake up.... Its 6.50 Christmas Eve and I start to email people about bikes I've founded listed for sale on "Craigslist Vietnam" that are advertised as being in Hanoi. It would appear that the four or five bikes that are available are all being sold by back packers...... There must be thousands of bikes available for sale in Hanoi but without being able to read Vietnamese we are limited to only a few... And come 9.30 I receive a reply whilst we are havi...