Bo Taz

Hanoi, and the last stop (bangkok doesn't count!) on our trip. We loved Hanoi, so much better than Saigon in our opinion. We never bored of wandering around the Old Quarter and just watching what was going on. Some great shops, cafes and the odd temple/pagoda that you just kind of stumble across. We did have some problems with the hotel the first day. They tried to scam us and charge all sorts of imaginery fees and refused to give us our passports. Luckily for us they gave the hidding place away for the passports so we promptly took them and left with only a minor bit of physical confrontation! One of the things we liked the most was the Beer Hoi bars in the evenings. Beer for 2000 dong a glass (7 pence!) and always ... read more

Ha Long Bay was probably our favorite spot in Vietnam. We took a tour for 3 days, 2 nights onboard a great boat. Package tours aren't usually our thing but this one truned out to be worth every penny. There was 13 of us on board the first day/night as we cruised out into the huge limestone formations that cover the bay. Enroute we stopped at a large cave. It was bit cheesy as it's been lit up with coloured lights "to make it more interesting". But the views from the cave mouth were spectacular. Later we were given time to jump off the boat for a swim before dinner. The food on the trip was great every day - loads of fresh squid and other seafood. The next day we left the big boat behind ... read more

We were looking forward to Hue but in the end we were a bit disappointed. The town was OK, some great resturants and drinking holes, but in terms of stuff to see it was a let down. The citadel was not bad but we had been told inside wasn't worth it so gave that a miss. The area around the citadel was good for a cycle round though just to soak up the atmosphere. The main thing we wanted to see was the tombs of the old emperors. Maybe we didn't read up on it enough but we found them quite dull and not really that interesting. The most fun part of the day was the motorbike ride between stops which included having to ride the bike over a very unstable bamboo bridge about 1m wide, ... read more

Yep, back to the beach! Nha Trang was loads better than we had expected. We had been told that it was the most touristy spot in Vietnam and more like a beach in Spain than Asia. Not what we wanted at all. With that in mind we only spent a night there, left our bags at a hotel and took the train north 2hrs up the coast to Dai Lanh Beach. This we had heard was a fantastic spot, not very built up, just the sort of beach to chill out on for a few days..................... Well before we go into the beach we should mention the train journey there. All was going quite well until 20mins out of the station the train runs a man down on the crossing! Poor guy was on his phone ... read more

From what we'd heard along the way we were a bit unsure of what to expect from Saigon. Most stuff we'd read made out that we'd be robbed within minutes of stepping off the bus or would be had by any number of possible scams. I'm sure it has a reputation for a reason, however, we found it a great place to hang around for a couple of days. no hassle whatsoever. There didn't seem a huge amount to do though. We checked out the War Museum which focused on the French and American wars, pretty interesting stuff but very one sided as you can imagine. The old pre-75 governement palace was unfortunately closed for renovation. Its been left exactly as it was when the war ended and they choose now to restore it! Oh well. ... read more