The first thing anyone would recommend to do after Hanoi is Halong Bay - about 3 hours from here. We opted for the deluxe overnight junk boat (costing $79 pp) and I'm pretty glad we chose that because the boat and rooms were luxurious and clean. The food was mediocre (although Dad would use the term 'rubbish') but the scenery made up for it. We were a bit unlucky with the weather as it was quite foggy so seeing the thousands of islands surrounding the boat was quite a challenge. Neverless, it was beautiful in a more mysterious way.

Mum and Dad have been with us for a couple of days now and it's certainly been eventful with them here! So far Dad has spilled two drinks, slipped down the stairs on the boat and had a VERY loud foghorn blown in his ear on the boat - amusing :) They both really like Hanoi & Halong Bay too, which is a relief. Although going up North of Vietnam to Sapa is something that Ketan and I want to put into our itinerary, it would be a tight squeeze for Mum and Dad on their holiday so we'll travel down South first and if we have time to go at the end, we will.

Today we've been cramming in the last of Hanoi before we flee. There are some great French patisseries in Hanoi from when the French were around, as their influence lingers in some respects. Before dinner we pigged out on mille fueille, profiteroles, cakes etc - all for only 3 pounds. We were recommended by my brother to go for some 'Bia Hoi', fresh local beer pretty much in street stalls full of locals for only 15p a glass - what a bargain :)

As I type, we are waiting in Hanoi Guesthouse for a 16-hour sleeper train to Hoi An, which leaves in 1 hour. Dad tried to convince us to take a plane from here to Hanoi, but I thought it would be a good experience for us to take a rickety old train.. We'll find out tomorrow afternoon if that was a wise decision, or whether Dad will be saying 'I told you so'. I'm looking forward to Hoi An. This is the place which is famous for getting an entire wardrobe tailored for yourself for about 100 pounds! We've been on all the high-street shop websites and printed a lot of pictures for the tailors to copy, perhaps a little over-ambitious but it's worth a try, eh..?