After another overnight train we eventually arrived into Danang at 10.30. We then had a short bus ride to the hotel in Hoi An. We checked in, dumped our stuff and headed out for orientation and lunch. We had a local BBQ lunch which consisted of barbecued pork and bean sprout omelettes which you wrap up with vegetables in rice pancakes and ate like fajitas. Delicious.

Hoi An is a tourist town by the river and is well known for having hundreds of tailoring shops. After lunch we headed to a couple of shops for people to order any clothes they wanted to get made up. I decided to get a winter coat made and some shorts. Once measured and sorted we then headed to a shoe shop which again did tailor made stuff. I splashed out and ordered some knee high boots. It will be winter when I get home after all and is so much cheaper than home!!

Once that was all sorted a bunch of the girls headed for some pampering. For £6 I got a manicure and pedicure with nail art, a facial and hair wash. Brilliant! With that done there was time for a quick freshen up and out for the Vietnamese cooking class.

Between 8 of us we cooked four dishes for our dinner including learning to make spring rolls. It was really enjoyable. We then joined the rest of the group and went for a few drinks and dancing at a local bar called before and now.

Thursday morning was a lazy one but I also had to go for a fitting of my clothes. There has been heavy rain following us on this trip, catching the group behind us but in Hoi An it caught up with us. We were meant to be going on a cycle tour around the countryside but decided that even with the rain we should go for it. So, after a local lunch we put on our rain gear and headed out.

We were all following the local guide around and first of all he took us to a farm to show us the way the crops are grown and tended to. Next stop was a local school where we interrupted a class and the children sang to us. I will try and upload the video later. We also stopped at a few local bridges and some people sat on a buffalo. The rain stopped part way around but I still managed to fall off my bike. Oh well, some things never change but it was good fun.

At the end of the tour we got on a boat and sailed back to the hotel along the river. I picked up my boots and clothes and then we headed back to the hotel for a change of clothes and went out for dinner. We had a couple of drinks and then an earlier night.

Friday morning we were up early to go and visit a local orphanage. We had collected money from all the group so first we stopped off at the local Market to buy some milk, crackers, vegetables and fruit to give the children. The orphanage currently has 90 children aged from 10 days old to 16 years. The elder children were at school but the younger ones and disabled children were there so we played with them, cuddled them and gave them the milk and fruit as treats. It was tough to leave but glad we went.

Once we got back to the hotel I headed out in the rain again to the post office to post my new clothes home. It was then time to checkout, get some lunch and jump on the next bus for the shortest journey in Vietnam, just four hours.

We arrived in Hue late afternoon so had a bit of relaxing time before heading out for dinner at a place called DMZ. After dinner we played a bit of pool and then headed downstairs to the bar. This place is one of those where everyone signs the walls to say they were there. I got a pen from the bar and wrote a message for our group but it didn't take long before we were writing on each other. Alcohol and marker pens aren't a great mix and I did not come off well. Enough said.

The rain had caught up with us again but the activity for the morning was a motorcycle tour. It was rain showers so we powered through, hangovers and all. It is a good job they don't breathalyse passengers! Our drivers took us around the countryside to see the pagoda, the king's tomb and the citadel. It was good fun and the rain even stopped for us.

Once we got back from the motorbikes we checked out, got some lunch and headed to the train station for the next overnight train. This one left at 3pm but would arrive in Hanoi at 4am. A fun 13 hours! We amused ourselves for the afternoon with games, chatting and watching a film before getting some sleep.

Once we arrived into Hanoi we got straight onto a bus for a further 4 hour journey to Halong Bay so we all went back to sleep on the bus. We arrived at the hotel at around 8.30 in time to eat some breakfast while waiting for the rooms and then had a chance for a nap in a bed!

In Halong Bay there are over three thousand islands (see cover pick) and at noon we headed down to the pier to pick up our junk boat tour. We sailed out to the islands, enjoying a seafood lunch on the way and a bit of sunbathing. We docked at the floating village and then got into kayaks to explore the caves a bit more. Unfortunately we couldn't swim as there were too many boats but it was good fun.

We sailed on a bit further and docked again to go and visit the Thien Cung caves. We sailed back to the mainland and headed straight for the beach for a swim, however after seeing the brown dirt on me afterwards I wish I hadn't!

Since most people head for the boats when they visit Halong Bay the restaurants and bars aren't up to much so we grabbed a quick dinner and headed back to the hotel for a room party instead. Another late night!

We are now on the bus back to Hanoi for a our last stop in Vietnam. We will also have another change of tour group members with six leaving and one more arriving, then onto Laos and the last leg of the tour.