Up early to catch the mini bus to Tam Coc, which is basically Ha Long Bay inland. We experienced our first breakdown but luckily it was all fixed within 30mins so we could vacate the side of the motorway safely. 2hours later and we arrived at a temple....... On to Tam Coc and with a vegetarian lunch of tofu in tomato sauce we were ready to face the rower that would take us along the river. We heard many stories about how the rowers try to rip you off and make ...

Back in Hanoi we decided to leave the hostel and get our own space again. We managed to check-in to a nice hotel around the corner so we were still able to meet up with our new found friends in the hostel. We decided to actually see a bit of Hanoi seeing as we were there before but left pretty sharpish for Ha Long. We set off on foot towards the lake which is the epicentre of Hanoi and beautifully lit at night time. It consists of a giant turtle (bit like loch...

It was D day and everyone was congregated in the foyer for 0730 to await our carriage - a 4 hour bus ride to Halong with a supposed 'culture' stop in a pottery village - this turned out to be a huge tourist shop full of nik-naks and souvenirs! Back on the bus after the usual ice-breakers - what's your name and where do you come from? We got to know some more travellers and passed the time by playing i-associate (a word association game) with 3 'Brizzy' girls (...

After our previous FAIL and taxi rip-off in Saigon we blanked the touts and set off marching for 'Hanoi Backpackers' with our new 'bus' friends. We checked into the first dorm room of our travels and managed to save a few bucks by getting a double bed (we would've got a private room but they wanted $40 a night!!!) . . .$9 it was! After a quick shower we jumped straight on a city walking tour which the rest of the hostel must've come on too! The group was far...

4hour bus journey to Hue at 7.30am and we arrived and checked into a hotel with ease. Vietnam has by far been the easiest travel experience, but thats probably because the people are more savvy to tourists and see tourism as a proper business. We had heard mixed things about Hue so decided to take a walk around the city to see for ourselves. We went to the Citadel where the majority of the population reside and is situated on the north side of the perfume rive...