Wow! What a spectacular ending to our 3 days in Halong Bay! We have been blown away by the beauty of these endless islands which are similar, yet so different. We feel so fortunate to have been on the 3 day cruise which got us away from the crowds of people on shorter cruises and into a serene environment where we saw only a few other boats and were able to experience the serenity of these karsts which emerge from the sea in varying shapes and sizes. After a grea...

After another overnight train ride from Sapa, followed by a 3 1/2 hour drive from Hanoi, we arrived in the famous Halong Bay - another World Heritage site with 1,969 picturesque rocky islands. As you can see from the photo, the weather is misty, adding a mysterious air to the bay. The highlight of the afternoon was a kayak trip off our beautiful but modern junk, exploring several caves in the limestone formations and enjoying the peacefulness of the area.

Bac Ha - one of the most amazing markets we have seen anywhere! Bac Ha has a market day once a week and five of the local tribal groups meet there to sell everything from water buffalo, horses, dogs (which will grow up to become dinner), pigs ( we watched as one was strapped on the back of a motor bike to get a ride to its new home!), fruits and vegetables, and a wicked corn whiskey. It was teeming with people with the women wearing colourful and beautifully deco...

After a sleepless overnight train ride, we arrived in Sapa, a mountainous town in the northwest of Vietnam, close to the Chinese border which is the home of numerous ethnic minority groups. We were surprised by the number of women on the street wearing traditional costumes - more than we have seen elsewhere. The women are all very friendly and all want to sell you some of their handicrafts. We walked through several of their villages and were struck by how basi...

Hanoi - a city of 9 million people, 4 million motorbikes and 500,000 cars and no rules - all of which make for some crazy traffic. Crossing the street here, as in Saigon, is somewhat nerve-racking til you get the hang of moving slowly but steadily and allowing the traffic to go around you - and praying that it does! We first paid our respects to Ho Chi Minh (or "Uncle Ho" as they call him here). He lies in state in the huge marble mausoleum shown in the photo, h...