So....More about the pig... We hadnt booked an alarm call so when (at 7.30am) we were ripped from our slumber by the sound of a screaming pig bigger than a family saloon being strapped to a pushbike for the trip to market directly outside our bedroom we were a little more than shocked....... The vietnamese( like the cantonese) eat absolutely everything and livestock is just FOOD!!!There is a completely utilitarian attitude to the animals they eat and to western sensibilities this can seem incredibly cruel..Live pigs tied down to boards on the back of bikes..Dogs in cages with no room to turn around..Chickens and ducks three or four deep also caged on bikes..Even live fish transported on bikes..We had seen this while covering the miles to Tam Coc but the reality of witnessing the pig strapping ... read more

After a brief stop in Singapore we arrived at Hanoi airport and were met according to plan by transfer service to the one hotel we have pre booked for the next six or so weeks....Good choice..area outside arrivals was an absolute "Bun fight"! The taxi booking kiosk was closed and "what seemed like hundreds" of disorientated western tourists were cowering under an onslaught of waving boards and the shouts of "what seemed like thousands" of hungry taxi drivers...Aaaagh help! Trip to hotel was relatively short and let us know what we were in for when it comes to riding a bike on the highways here in Vietnam....Noisy and frenetic...Everyone loves their horn and uses them at every opportunity...Apart from when they are actually trying to hit something and need both hands.. Hotel is Queen Star on ... read more