We were woken up very early this morning by the noise of scooters horn's, people shouting and people cooking. Neil looked at his watch upside down and thought it was midday but it was actually 6.30am - I soon put him right! We dozed for another hour or so (difficult with all the noise) before heading for our included breakfast of omelette and bread - it was delicious!

We got some Vietnamese Dong (being charged ridiculous amounts by the ATM!), booked the bus to Hue for Friday Night and a Halong Bay tour for tomorrow before walking in the stifling humidity to Hoan Kiem Lake. We had a very slow walk around here before heading into Ngoc Son temple in the centre of the lake. This has the embalmed remains of a huge turtle in it - the turtle means luck in Vietnam. The temple gave lovely views of the lake.

We came out and spent some time simply sitting watching the world go by around the lake - it was so humid we were trying to regulate our temperatures! As we were sat there a girl jumped off her scooter and came to talk to us, saying she wanted to practise her English. We were very wary as she hadn't taken her helmet off, but needn't have worried as she soon buzzed off.

We headed back into the old quarter towards some sights we wanted to see. The old quarter is literally how I imagined Asia to be - it's noisy with beeping horns, motor bike engines, cyclo bells and hawkers trying to sell you everything under the sun - its smelly, both of delicious food smells and drains - its colourful with clothes, bags, fruit and people everywhere - and its hectic, there are more scooters and motorbikes here than I ever thought possible! It is very difficult to keep your wits about you and to try and take it all in and enjoy it at the same time.

We realised that the places we wanted to see would be shut for lunch so we decided to take some respite from the mid day sun and grabbed a sandwich. After this we carried onto the Bach Ma Temple but were disappointed to learn it was closed so we walked to the memorial house. All this navigation sounds easy but it is rather difficult when you have to avoid all the motorbikes, scooters, cyclos and cars as well as the hawkers. It is utter madness and made my head hurt - I am not used to it being so hectic.

We got to the memorial house and it was great - a real view of a traditional Vietnamese living. We bought a set of magnets here of a traditionally dressed bride and groom for our forever home. We had already purchased a book mark for Neil and a purse for me - there is so much gorgeous stuff here, it's a shopper's paradise and I am gutted that I cannot do more shopping because of A. lack of funds and B. lack of space in my backpack!

We headed back towards the lake and decided to people watch for a while. As we were doing this we were approached by another English student - this time we were comfortable there was no scam so we sat and chatted for 20 minutes before excusing ourselves.

We walked over to St Josephs Cathedral - a beautiful building in the centre of a busy area. On the journey there we were caught in the middle of school release. There were cries of 'hello', 'how are you's?' and one bashful little girl simply waved at me - so cute! The children were nothing compared to their parents on mopeds and trying to cross the road. You simply cannot imagine the busy, noisy and frantic environment. We eventually crossed the road and headed into the cathedral. I noticed there was a wedding going on, and felt like an intruder knowing how special our ceremony had been to us, but no one batted an eyelid and I think having strangers at the back of the ceremony in this cathedral is the norm. These suspicions were founded as another English language student asked Neil (and some other western tourists) to complete a survey for him.

We walked back to the lake and treated ourselves to an ice-cream at a Lonely Planet recommended parlour - Fanny's! The ice-creams were delicious and it was so nice to have an air-conditioned place to eat them - sheer luxury!

After wolfing the ice creams down we went back to the old quarter beer junction called Bia Hoi junction where we had 6 beers between us for under a pound. This junction is literally that - a cross roads in the old quarter where people grab a plastic stool to sit on looking out at the passing traffic of scooters, cyclos, cars and people and enjoy a cheap drink. We met another honeymooning couple from Argentina - Matias and Vero. They gave us some tips for where to go when we are in Argentina next year; we swapped travel stories and watched the crazy Hanoi world go by. As they left they handed us a card and told us to look them up when we were in Buenos Aires - such a nice couple - See you there guys!! We then went back to the hostel to get ready for our full day at Halong Bay tomorrow.

We were up bright and early this morning for our trip to Halong Bay all decked out in our beach wear. It looked sunny and promising as we jumped on the bus for our day at the bay! There were only 5 of us all together on the tour, a Malaysian man, a South African man and a Canadian man as well as Neil and I. It was a small but interesting group. We started the three hour drive and chatted with our fellow travellers. We stopped half way for a 'happy room' break (meaning toilet break) at the usual shopping outlet.

We soon arrived at the harbour and were impressed with our large boat - far too big for the five of us. We headed out towards some of the small beautiful craggy islands. The views were stunning; simply breathtaking and the photos fail to do it justice. I couldn't believe I was lucky enough to be here! We enjoyed the sail, feeling cool for the first time in ages and stopped at a floating fishing village. This was a great thing to see - A family living in a tiny floating house on the sea, catching fish and selling them - such a simple life. There were so many different sea creatures there - huge prawns (which I had never seen alive before!), the biggest sea snails ever and loads of different types of fish!

Back on the boat we were served a delicious lunch including prawns, crab cakes, battered fish, chicken, rice, cabbage, squid, chips and salads. It was mouth wateringly tasty and so fresh! With our tummies full the boat sailed to Hang Sing Sot - one of the jutting islands which has caves inside. It was so cool in here, a welcome escape from the humidity outside (especially after climbing all the steps to get inside the cave!). Inside the cave were lots of different rock formations including a turtle that was having his head rubbed for luck - Neil and I decided to join in - you may as well hedge your bets!

The humidity felt like it had gotten worse as we emerged from the cave and we were thankful to be back on the boat sailing with the wind in our faces again on the way to Dao Ti Top Island. We had decided earlier that due to the lack of sunshine and mistiness of the bay we would visit this island rather than go kayaking. This mistiness was amazing to see, as it gave a whole look of mystery to the bay and as we sailed through some islands more appeared. It was simply magical! As we sailed away from Hang Sing Sot we noticed something in the rocks - our guide told us it was a Buddhist shrine where the people who lived in the bay came to worship. It was weird to realise that these people lived literally their whole lives in this magical bay.

When we got to Dao Ti Top Island we headed for the lookout point at the top. The views were spectacular, and I stopped every 10-20 steps to take a photo (and catch my breath!). Once we reached the top we reflected that the hard climb was worth it - the view was out of this world. All the photos I have seen of Halong Bay - including the ones I took when I was there - simply do not do it justice - it really does have to been seen to be believed. We started back down the steps and soon thought this was as hard as coming up them due to the humidity and steepness of them.

We made it down and headed for the water's edge on the manmade beach where I kicked off my shoes and waded into the cool and refreshing water. Neil quickly joined in, and we smiled as we realised it was our first paddle in the sea of our trip. We were soon back on the boat, and after an hour's sailing, straight into the waiting mini bus and back to Hanoi. I was sad to be leaving Halong Bay but was so happy as it had been such a lovely day.

The main roads here are crazy, over taking from every angle and speed, even on duel carriage ways with something coming the other way. At night the constant horn seems to be replaced with the constant flashing of full beam headlights which is just as annoying and slightly more dangerous in my opinion! However we got back to the hostel safely, used the internet for a while to research Hues accommodation but have decided to wing it for the first time!

Back in the room we packed our bags ready to check out tomorrow in preparation for our first night bus. A truly unforgettable day today :o)

After a good night's sleep, we showered, packed, had breakfast and checked out. We went to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum in a cyclo - this was both terrifying and fantastic! It was lovely to have the wind blowing in your hair, but scary being in the thick of the traffic especially as the driver went the wrong way down a two lane duel carriage way. When we got to our destination the poor driver was sweating buckets but was happy with having made some money.

We went into the Hoi Chi Minh museum which also displays lots of information on other Vietnamese revolutionaries before we rushed off to the mausoleum. Us being us we hadn't read Lonely Planet right or simply not recognised that it was a Friday (all the days merge into one when you travel - dates and days are a blur!) - The only day of the week the mausoleum is closed to visitors! Annoyed with ourselves we walked over and saw the one pillar pagoda before making our way to the temple of literature.

It was a hot and humid day so the walk was tough going but we soon got there and paid the entrance fee, me managing to save 50% with my ISIC card - bargain! The temple of literature is a beautiful place. It was the first university in Vietnam and the students were given tests by the King. It was fascinating. There was also a bell and drum inside the walls - dawn and dusk markers due to the Buddhist faith. While walking around here we saw a group of Vietnamese school children aged about 10 years old. When they saw me looking over and smiling, they beckoned me over to be in a picture with them - it felt like we were still in China!

After all this we walked back towards the lake with the hope of getting water puppet tickets. However the ticket office was shut for lunch, so Neil and I grabbed some lunch too, and then realising we wouldn't get a ticket for the showing we wanted we sat by the lake again for a couple of hours talking about our future travel.

We went back to the hostel and got our backpacks before going to the bus office. I think we were meant to have been given a lift to the bus on a motorbike but as I had expressed to the girl in the office I didn't like motorbikes, we were simply walked the short distance to where we needed to wait for the bus. About 10% of me was disappointed that we didn't take the lift, but 90% (and the sensible part of me!) knows it was better for us to walk.

When the bus turned up we all hopped on and were greeted with a half bed half seat type thing of which the back goes up and down. They were made out of faux leather so were hot and sticky, and although they were an ok length for me, they were far too small for 6ft+ Neil. There was also no toilet on board as promised so when we stopped I thought I should go. I have never been to a worse toilet ever in my whole life! They were squat toilet's which wasn't a problem after such a long time in China; the cubicles didn't have doors which I could just about cope with but there were geckos, mosquitos, spiders and a whole host of other creepy crawlies all over the walls and floor. O and it also stunk! However, needs must so I just got on with it being the first of the queue of girls to simply do so. Back on the bus I settled down for my first night's sleep on a night bus. A good day but I am feeling a little homesick today - it'll soon pass with new and exciting places to explore tomorrow!

Love and miss you all lots - keep commenting and keep us up to date with all the gossip at home! xxxxx