Before getting to Hanoi we stopped in Hue, where we had a bit of a tactical substitution, we changed going to Laos and the 4000 islands to going to just Hanoi then Laos, and missing out the 4000 islands as we were now thinking about the second half of our trip Australia, and the flight we had to catch on the 23rd of April. So hanoi was a bit of a quickie!!

We got to our hotel in Hanoi and were greeted by cold air and rain when I say cold I mean about 25 degrees just not 40 degrees!! We knew why we were here and it wasn't just for the 7 pound converse Hi tops it was a wonder of the world Halong Bay, where there was exactly approxamatley errrrrrr alot of limestone rocks in the water some high some not so high.

We decided to do a 2 day 1 night tour, where u stay on a boat with all meals included!! We had to take a 3 hour mini bus ride to the bay where the highlight was goin over a speed hump at about 100 mph n the tour guide leaping off his seat and hitting his head on the roof!!
The multi International group we toured the bay with included Swedish, Australian, Japanese, Vietnamese and an American called Justin who we got to know well enough to sit and drink 3 bottles of vodka with, till about 12 and with every other passenger gone to bed Dean n anna, Kee and justin were left on the deck with vodka and the I pod and I can honestly say halong bay has never heard loco dice definition played on a amplifier as loud as what we had it!!
What we remember of the bay is bit of a blur apart from the oysters, mussels n somekind of fish still with the bludy head on!! All this and lots of vodka didn't pay us too well on the boat ride out of the bay were our stomachs felt like a washing machine!! Halong bay was truly unforgettable!!

Next day (after the hangover from hell) we made use of the cheap converse and yet again had to send another package home!! On the other hand we just found out that we had a 26 hour bus ride to luang prubang which was mint and we couldn't wait to do!! Naaat!!