The scenery is spectacular and cruising around these amazing islands is a wonderful experience.The next morning started with Tai chi at 6:15 on the top deck- quite a surreal experience. We watched the sunrise and were greeted with a lovely sunny day.After breakfast we went ashore and went for a mountain bike ride through some remote villages. Not too many hills which was good as it was stinking hot! Back to the boat for lunch - food has been delicious then a bit ...

On day one we visited a floating fishing village which was fun.The weather was on our side with nice temps of 24-33 degrees.Happy hour started at 5pm so we spent a fab time watching a spring roll cooking demonstration on the top deck watching the blood red sunsetand drinking some yummy cocktails. The girls enjoyed happy hour mocktails too!

After a hot 4 hour minibus ride we finally arrived in Halong Bay. We had chosen Bhaya cruises for our 3 day 2 night boat tour. What a great choice - our boat was beautiful, the staff super attentive and friendly and the other passengers on board wonderful! Now I remember one of the great bonuses of travelling - the people! We had 3 lovely girls from Vancouver on the cruise who were fantastic fun and the girls loved them. We also had 2 Aussie girls travelling wit...

The food in Hanoi is so fresh - loads of amazing herbs are used. The girls are lovely this food and doing well with the chopsticks!

Our last day in Hanoi. Off to market went the 5 little pigs! Caitlin:The market was hot and crowded but it was still amazing, a great experience for me. There were cute little shops along the side of the street and everything was cheap. Laura was especially good at lowering the price which made the shop owners laugh. I bought a red handbag, headphones and an iPod case