Thurs 23rd April

Our first full day in Hoi An which is famous for its rows and rows of tailors which are apparently the cheapest in the world! You can even have shoes made for you!
We spent all day shopping, over the course of the next couple of days we did a lot of shopping much to my delight, even Adam enjoyed it!! It's different when everything is being made especially for you and you can pick and choose everything from material, lining, fit, everything! Adam has two lovely suits made to measure complete with shirts, linen trousers, linen shirt and I have Linen trousers, 2 shirts, a skirt and a jacket. The ladies of Hoi An took great delight in feeling Adam up whilst measuring him but at least it put us in a better position to barter.
It was a very tiring day and a very early start so we had an early night ready for the excitement of picking up our goodies the following day.

Friday 24th April

Picked up some of our lovely clothes today and did a little more shopping, relaxing and checking out the town itself (which is beautiful) and wondering around the very smelly local market.
We met our friends Gus and Edele whom we originally met on the no4 boat trip in Nha Trang for dinner this evening at the restaurant next to our hotel as they had draught beer for 3500 vd per glass (that's 15 pence!!). Very cheap but very messy games of ring of fire, ping pang pong and other ridiculous drinking games ensued until our lovely host was ready to close his restaurant, we left still raring to carry on so were delighted when some local moto drivers accosted us and whisked us off to another pub across town called king Kong's which is open until the last person leaves. Unfortunately the beer was no where near as cheap but they redeemed themselves with an extensive cocktail and bucket menu. By 1am Adam was ready to go to bed so we both piled on to the back of a moped for a lift back to our hotel while Gus and Edele were whisked off to a beach party. Unfortunately our hotel was locked but after a lot of drunk "whispering" trying to locate an alternative entrance we were heard and let in.

Saturday 25th April

Dirty Hangovers all-round so a leisurely day featuring double breakfast with Gus (Edele couldn't manage it) chilling by the pool (yes our $10 a night hotel had a pool.....result!!)
And Dinner back with our lovely cheap beer host but this time cokes and waters for everyone.

Sunday 26th April

A well deserved lie in today and a nice leisurely breakfast before our bus picked us up for Hue. Gus and Edele took the earlier bus so arranged for moto drivers to collect us off the bus and booked us into their hotel. As the usual hotel hunt and traipsing around with back packs shooing off touts wasn't necessary we relaxed a while and went for dinner and cocktails. Spent all evening in Brown Eyes 2 putting the world to rights, playing pool and sampling as much of the cocktail menu as we could manage. Probably not the best idea as we had a very early start the next day.

Monday 27th April

A 5.30am start for us all (including Gus and Edele) and off for a day tour around the DMZ (De Militarized Zone) unfortunately we couldn't understand a word our guide said so I can't tell you much about it. We visited monuments, the start of the Ho Chi Minh trail, crawled through some great Viet Cong tunnel complexes and visited two museums. I am reading a book about it so will give more information on request when we get home : - )
This evening we blew the budget and went all out for a slap up Indian with Gus and Edele, it was twice the cost of our normal meals but absolutely delicious!! After a very sociable dinner we went back to our hotel with the intention of freshening up and going our for more cocktails but TV, WIFI and comfy beds got the better of us.

Tuesday 28th April

Another lie in opportunity today which was much needed in preparation for the night bus. We checked out of our hotel, dropped our back packs at our bus pick up point and hired moto bikes to take the four of us to a couple of the cities highlights which included the magnificent Citadel and the tomb of emperor Tu Duc unfortunately the admission fee's to all of the tombs and sights of the city rack up substantially so on Adam's recommendation as he has done them all before we just did the best and then went for an early dinner before getting on the oh so ironically named Sleeper bus to Hanoi.

Wednesday 29th April

Arrived in Hanoi at 7am and after hunting out some accommodation and booking tours we spent the afternoon getting our bearings and having drinks in a local cafe and passing the time playing cards together. Trish spent the early evening and late afternoon updating the blog while Adam, Gus and Edele are sound asleep next to her.......she is jealous, especially since I doubt anyone will bother reading now as we are home next week!

Thursday 30th April

Departed bright and early for Ha Long city from where we were to set off on our final big adventure of the trip, a 3 day 2 night trip around the stunning world heritage site Ha Long Bay. Trish, myself, Gus and Edel all booked together on the same boat, we were all excited to have one final blast together!! The first day was spent on the boat crusing around, Ha Long bay consists of over 2000 limestone islands clustered within the south china sea. Out first stop was the largest cave in Vietnam, which i must say is pretty impressive but very touristy. Its pretty much like your in one long que all the way around which you just follow a set path around the cave, they light it all up like Disney land too! Got back on the boat and were shown to our cabins which were surprisingly fantastic! En suite bathroom, air conditioning all the mod cons!! But by far the greatest thing was the view from the cabin, see picture!! This day was pretty much spent sitting out on deck admiring the fantastic views and drinking lots of beer!! We were most definatly the most hardcore group on the boat, all except us were in bed by 8, despite the crew obviously wanting us to go off to bed we stayed on drinkin hard!!

Friday 1st May

Had to get up at a rediculas 7.30 for breakfast! Awoke to see a sea eagle diving for its breakfast in front of the wonderful landscape, stunning!!!! Had breakfast on board and cruised for an hour or so before arriving at the only inhabited island in Ha Long bay, Cat Ba Island. Were taken to the national park where we imbarked on a monster climb to the highest peak on the island. The climb up was trickey, walking on wet mud and wet rocks in flip flops made the going pretty tough, but we made it!! The views made the climb very worth while!! At the top of the peak was a sketchy, ruting observation tower which offered amazing views but in the gusty conditions you didnt want to stay up there too long!!! Next we were ferried to our hotel which again was pleasently surprising and very nice! While waiting for lunch Trish and Edel went out for a fag to the delight of a bus full of Vietnamese on holiday, most of whom wanted to have their pictures taken with them, was very bizzare to be watching on! After lunch we headed down to the beach which was packed with Vietnamese (it was currently a Vietnamese 4 day holiday). Gus and i were playing a keepy-uppy game and after not even 30 seconds we were joined by 10 or more Vietnamese who played with us!! Lots of tanning and swimming action before heading back to the hotel on a sketchy motor bike journey, the roads are crazy!!! We had dinner and played cards and were discussing how when Gus and Edel go to Australia they have to visit the Karaoke bar i went to in Sydney on my previous trip. We were delighted to find when venturing out for the evening there was a similar establishment right next to our hotel!! The next 5 and a hlaf hours were spent drinking lots of beer and singing our hearts out!!!! We dragged ourselves away at almost 3 in the morning, was a cracking night!!!

Saturday 2nd May

Another rediculas 7 am start, all suffering dirty, dirty hang overs!!! The morning was spent cruising around more of the stunning seascape before heading back to Ha Long city for lunch at the most manic restaurant i have ever been in!! The bus ride back was lame, still feeling rough it was proper hot and leg room was minimal! 4 hours later we were back in Hanoi to discover the 2 rooms we were promised at the hotel was infact 1, but not a problem!! Spent the evening in the room watching tv and playing cards, even had a take away dinner from the bakery!! All still feeling the effects of the previous night we all crashed early!!!

Sunday 3rd May - THE FINAL DAY :(

Finally, a day we didnt have to set an alarm!! Unfortunatly Hanoi is a noisey city and got woken up early, was nice not to have to get out of bed though! Spent the day exploring the new quarter of the city and looking around big department stores and checking out the lakeside. Its just gone 6 in the evening and this will be our final entry for this trip. Tonight were heading out for a goodbye dinner with gus and Edel and going to check out the night market!

Really hope everyone has enjoyed our blog, we appreciate all of your comments throughout the trip!! We cant wait to catch up with everyone!!!! See you all soon!

Signing off..... Adam and Trish x