Hi everyone, we're back in Thailand for round 2!

In our last week in Vietnam, we were in Hue, a great place to spend a few days. One night, we had an amazing storm, the loudest thundering and lightning I've ever heard!! It lasted all night and in the morning we were told the river had burst its banks and flooded some bars resteraunts.

After a few days in Hue, we headed to Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, which we fell in love with after a rocky start. We arrived at 7am after a very long bus journey, and headed to a hotel the Lonely Planet recommended. The lady at the desk told us she was full but took us to her 2nd hotel... which was down a very small dark alley on a busy street - slightly creepy, but we were tiered after the journey so stayed for one night and moved the next day to a much nicer hotel in a great location.

Hanoi was wonderful, we spent some time shopping, its full of markets selling everything - great place to grab a bargain! The weather was nice and sunny so we decided to walk round the lake and do some sightseeing the next day. Unfortunately it was raining when we woke up, but we bought brollys and decided to walk in the rain anyway. We stopped off for coffee and chocolate cake at a local cafe to shelter for a while. One of our favorite places to go was the City View Cafe, set on top of a tall complex where you could see the lake and the busy traffic below.

As we left Vietnam, James described how Thailand had the best views and scenery, Cambodia has the best people, but Vietnam has something else which makes it a great place to visit - but you can't quiet put your finger on it. After the wonder and beauty of Vietnam, we borded our plane for the second leg of Thailand.

So here we are, Back in Bangkok. We've done some more shopping(!) at the MBK shopping centre (Huge!) and today we visited Lumpini park. We saw some amazing Monitor Lizards swimming in the lake and climbing trees! Luckily they don't bother as long as you keep a sensible distance - they just keep one watchful eye on you! The place was beautiful - a real contrast to the surrounding skyscrapers. We also saw aome turtles and strange birds.

Tomorrow we'll be visiting the Grand Palace and then having a massage before our bus to Krabbi. Can't wait for the beaches and islands!

PS - Photos are on www.flickr.com/photos/paulajames

xx