Hi All!

We arrived in Hanoi this morning after a overnight train trip from Hue - what an experience that was! Not the cleanest bed I've slept in (Robyn thank you soooo much for lending me that silk slip) but we survived and had a fun evening drinking in our 4 bed cabin and telling stories.

Hue where we've just come from was very pretty and saw more temples and mausoleums - another half day ride on the back of a bike which is fun and a dragon boat cruise down the perfume river.

After Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city) and before Hue we went to Hoi Ann - we flew by air which always frightens me as think all the planes over here are dodgy but turned out we were flying Jetstar :-)

Hoi Ann was nice but very touristy and quite a few westerners. We went for a ride in the rain through flooded country side which was amusing - water half way up our wheels in some spots! Then a ride to some little island and had a BBQ.

Had some knee high boots, 1 x pair of shoes for work, 3 work shirts for US $140 - would have been an even better deal if the dollar was stronger :-(

We're off to Halong Bay tomorrow morning for an overnight boat trip then back to Hanoi again.

Still deciding on what to do next? Do we go to Laos? Airfares are $200-$300 then cost of Visa - travelling through Laos etc etc

Fly back to Bangkok then overnight train to Chang Mai?

Fly directly to the southern Thailand beaches from Hanoi?

Too many options to choose from!

Also can someone back home please do something about the ozzy dollar as I note today it's down again!!! Prices are a third higher then they were in July and rising ....!!!

I'll add more photos as soon as I get a speedier internet connection :-)

Luv u all and Virgin are still stuffing me around with my global roaming although have finall replied to my email after 2 weeks of waitin and contacting the Telecommunications Ombudsmen!