We arrived train weary at Betel Homestay in Hoi An early Wednesday afternoon needing a wake me up shower and a little food. However, we were served a huge amount of unfamiliar food...... morning glory and rice and banana flower salad. With our energy levels rebooted, we set off on the homestay's bikes towards the main part of Hoi An. I thought that cycling here would be a calm, unhurried affair. But no! Unfamilarity with the curious rules of the road here caused ...

Rainy, rainy day in Hanoi today. But what does that matter? It's not the same sort of rain as at home. You wander through the downpour with an umbrella shielding you..... to an extent..... and if it's really torrential you just bunker down in a cafe and watch the Vietnamese world pass by. Lateish to get up and out this morning as we had to pack our belongings by 12 to release our room to its next tenants. Also, we had to finalise our plans for next week which are...

It's a long, long way from Wales to Hanoi as we found out during our day or so travelling by taxi and aeroplane via Munich and Singapore. It was Saturday, 5.30 a.m. when we hauled the last of our suitcases into the back of the taxi outside our house. So at 1 p.m. on Sunday I wasn't at my most alert or most patient as we wilted, watching the carousal in the arrivals area at Hanoi wind around endlessly until our luggage was finally propelled from a subterranean cel...