Friday 15.9.23. Back in Hanoi for our last week at a different hotel just to mix it up a bit. Our plan is to rest and relax before we have to return to home and work. Sunday 17.9.23 We walked to the Tran Quoc Pagada which is the oldest pagoda in the city, originally constructed in the sixth century. Its located on West lake which is the largest lake in Hanoi city. As we were walking there were people fishing and catching decent size fish, some about 14" long. ...

Tuesday 12.9.23 This evening we headed off to the water puppet theatre, not really knowing what to expect. It was really enjoyable, even though we couldn't understand the commentary (we maybe could have got translation head phones) we could get the gist of the story. We had front row views which was really good. They are very talented and it was a fun evening. Wednesday 13.9.23 - Day 1 Ha Long Bay - the pearl of Vietnam, we are really looking forward to this 5...

Thursday 7.9.23 We flew from Hoi An to Hanoi on, we had comtemplated the sleeper bus, read too many scary reviews about bugs crawling at night, the mad drivers and beeping the horn all time, then we thought about the train - an thought nah! We don't need to experience that either, so we flew - good choice I think. We have a hotel in the "old Quarter" which is a popular tourist place - very busy and vibrant. They shut the streets off to vehicles on Fri...

We flew with VietAir on Wednesday 30th for Hoi An. The flight lands in Da Nang, a then a taxi to Hoi An which is about 20 - 30 mins. Our hotel is located at the end of the road on the river about 20 min walk into the old part of town - a little further out than what I was expecting, but a taxi ride only costs about 60 000 VD ($3.60) which is well worth it in the humid whether. Walking around the markets - they are crazy busy, lots of food, cloths, leather prod...

Off to Vietnam for a month. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh Friday 25th after delayed flights leaving Perth, and missing connections in Kuala Lumpur. Not sure that I'm very happy with Malaysian Airlines. The seating seamed to be alot smaller than other flights - or have we just forgotten! Ho Chi Minh city - not too crazy, like many Asian countries - lots of scooters on the road. Our hotel is quite nice with city views, and peeks of the river, and a nice easy walk to ...