Hello!

It seems like we haven't written properly for ages so this might be a long one. I'll try to be brief...

We finished our intrepid trip in the north of Vietnam, having travelled up to Hanoi by train and then left the next day for our night at Halong Bay. On the way to the Bay we stopped off at our guide's house where he treated us to some more strong rice wine. 3 shots down at 11am again! When we arrived at halong bay, we realised how lucky we were because for the past few days (and, as it turned out, the next few after we left) no one was able to get to it because of bad weather. But we arrived and it was beautiful! A little grey at first but we went out onto the boat, had our free seafood lunch, visited some impressive limestone caves and then drifted out to see more of the bay. Roy went swimming in the sea and I tried to be arty with the camera. Apparently the current was really strong, though it seemed so still. Then the thunder began so we headed back to shore.

Spent the night on Cat Ba island, had a local meal and then went to a kareoke bar. The boys were drinking lots of rice wine. Again. Roy drank some that had old goat penis in it. Yummmmmmmm!

Cat Ba island was cool, very pretty harbour. The next morning we headed out to kayak around the bay again. So much fun! In a double kayak with roy steering at the back, we were quite good! Paddled around the bay, went into this very still and echoey (not sure if that's a word) lagoon which was very cool. Caught the hydrofoil boat back to the mainland and then bus all the way back to Hanoi.

Final meal with the group in Hanoi, which is a very cool little city. It has a lake in the centre, and we stayed in the Old Quarter where all the streets are named for whatever they sell - DVD street, shoes street, chicken street. Had fresh beer on the street corner, watched the world go by, listened to all the hooting. We had a free day in Hanoi at the end of the tour, went for ice cream at Fanny's, saw some weird water puppets and bought a couple of cheap dvds. Then Roy and I caught our flight to Bangkok, connecting bus to train station, then our overnight train up to Chiang Mai.

Very briefly, Chiang Mai is a great city. Not many people here (though loads of old western men with young thai girls/boys). We've enjoyed the relaxing and walking the streets seeing the temples and especially the Night Bazaar, which sells everything you could want, and at decent prices. We weren't hassled at all, meaning you can actually look at stuff! Leaving here tonight on a long bus down to Bangkok then on to Krabi on the southern coast. Looking forward to more beaches and island life!

hope all is well with everyone, happy birthday to Clive from both of us (sorry the phone call cut out), hello to Dad in America and hope Alistair and Charlotte got to Oz ok. How's the bump Louise? Any other news, please keep us updated!

Lots of love, Jo and Roy xxx