We arrived back in Hanoi from Halong bay around dinner time so after checking into our hotel we headed out in search of a much needed Bia Hoi (really cheap beer). It didn't take long to find a corner occupied by the familiar children's chairs and tiny stools for tables and a lovely Vietnamese man found us a little spot where we could squeeze in. After a couple of beers we were feeling suitably relaxed and ready to find somewhere nice for dinner. Under a recomme...

After another pretty painless overnight journey we arrived in the capital city of Hanoi and immediately booked a trip to Halong Bay. The tour was a 3 day 2 night trip into the bay spending the first night on an old Junk boat and then the second night on a private island owned by the company running the tour. We left early the following morning and it took about 4 hours to get to the harbour at Halong where we were able to get the first look at our Junk boat. We...

After a relatively short 5 hour transfer we arrived around lunchtime in the town of Hue. Hue served as the political capital from 1802 to 1945 serving under 13 different emperors. It is these emperors or rather the emperors tombs that bring visitors to this deeply cultural and religious town. Before the rise of Hanoi as Vietnams capital city it was Hue that was the place to see and be seen! After checking into our lovely hotel we grabbed a quick bite to eat befor...

The journey to Hoi An was in excess of 500km which on Vietnams road networks was to take about 11 hours so one of the more popular ways to make this transfer is on one of Vietnams infamous night buses. An air conditioned coach equipped with double decker cribs to allow you to travel overnight in relative comfort. We had spotted a couple of these night coaches while we were in Saigon and deciding that they looked ok we opted to save some time by making some of our...

The next stop was to be a welcome relief from the city with a trip to the beach town of Nha Trang about a 10 hour bus journey away. We arrived late afternoon and after fending off the numerous touts waiting to jump us as we disembarked we found our guest house and checked into what was a very comfortable and clean room. After a quick shower we headed out to explore and find somewhere nice for dinner. The pace in Nha Trang was much slower when compared to the ch...