Well, we thought the traffic in Hanoi was horrendous so I have no words left to convey the enormity of the traffic jam that confronted us when we were picked up from Ho Chi Minh airport. A 25 minute journey took well over an hour and a half, the highlights being a U-turn across 3 lanes of oncoming traffic to reach one hotel and then another U-ey across 6 lanes to reach ours! The next day we set off for the Mekong Delta to be confronted by yet another traffic jam....

Well, to be honest, Da Nang was all that we don't like - loud, glitzy, and a million neon lights - but it did have a lovely beach so we got to swim in the South China Sea. It was also a short drive to the My Son Sanctuary, where we saw some amazing ruins of temples from the Champa era, so there is a Buddhist/Hindu mix. American bombing is said to have destroyed most of the temples but the remainder are now a Unesco World Heritage site. I have to say it was an ext...

We were both looking forward to this bit of the trip - an overnight cruise in Halong Bay. Everyone's seen the iconic images and it didn't disappoint, even though there were hundreds of similar tourist boats. Our cabin was wood panelled, with bed and shower, so we were happy, and there was wine on board! It was a major logistical operation to get onto the boat however. They come back and the previous tenants leave the boat in the middle of the river. Having checke...

Hanoi - where to start? Arriving in pouring rain wasn't a good start, nor was the 5:30am arrival at the hotel and being told we had to wait till midday for our room! Luckily, Claire and Charlie had told us about Hoan Kiem Lake so we wandered down for a look. Well, at 6am the whole world and his dog were there, doing Tai Chi, playing badminton, running, lifting weights, stretching, hat waving classes, dance classes - you name it, they were doing it. This kept us e...