Hi again, since we last wrote we have whizzed through Laos and are now in Vietnam. Laos was a slow paced underdeveloped country - our introduction was a two day slow boat ride down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang. LP was a lovely chilled out town, once an important French outpost and the mixture of temples and colonial buildings was quite special. We took an excursion out to a waterfall and generally soaked up the atmosphere of river life and the night markets. Next it was a short hop of a flight to the Laos - which incidentally is correctly pronounced Lao - capital Vientiene. It was an interesting city but lets just say not inspiring - although again a couple of interesting buildings kept us busy - and the festival outside kept us awake. The music started at 7am and finished at 11pm. We were relived to be leaving and another short flight brought us swiftly into Hanoi, Vietnam. Immediately we could tell Vietnam was a country full of life, especially compared to Laos but then the country does have 81+million people! But this country is so much more than a war and we are both really enjoying it after only four days. Hanoi is a mixture between asia and China with a bit of France thrown in and 9 million people and 3 million motorcycles! Better than cars - but crossing the road is a little interesting! The trick is to just walk out and let them go round you. If you stop or run your in trouble. Kylie is pretty dissapointed she doesn't have more money as the shopping here is pretty good. Maybe then she could get some pyjamas like the Vietnamese ladies who, from any time after 3pm, wander the streets and ride the motorbikes with just their silk two piece bed clothes on! We haven't found the reason why as yet.... Tonight we leave for Hue last night we watched a traditional water puppets show and for the previous two days we thoroughly enjoyed a two day, one night cruise in Halong Bay. It was magical - at last we felt like we were on holiday again crusing around the 3,000 somthing islands, swimming and visiting grotto's and caves. Our boat was of 5* quality at backpackers prices. So that's it for now - we catch our Reunification Express in about an hour and are looking forward to more of Vietnam over the next week before we cross into Cambodia on the 8th. Love to all, Rob and Kylie x