Wow the buffet breakfast was amazing!! I had over 6 courses : there was real cheese, eggs, coco pops, choco croissants. I ate so much my tummy hurt. We took cyclo's to the Citadel where we walked around. Some of the group took elephant rides. We then took a bus towards Hoi An. We stopped along the route at a beach resort for lunch where the group ordered burgers ( I had stolen a pack-lunch from breakfast) The meat looked awful and Toni's chicken burger was so bad she had to give it back. It was raining but I still had a quick dip in the sea, it was lovely. At 5pm we arrived at Hoi An and then we were taken on a quick tour around the town. We had an expensive dinner in a ... read more

We took a smaller boat to one of the islands to see a big cave. Then back to the boat for another big lunch. We took the bus to the train station and then took a train to Hue (heading southwards). I accidentally got a little drunk on the train but we all had a fun time messing about. They stopped serving beer at about 10 so me and John had to go and beg to get some more. I managed to sweet talk the guy into getting us some more :P... read more

Had a bad night's sleep but didnt mind as breakfast was unlimited pancakes with honey - yummy. We then left the homestay and completed our Sapa trek, walking past a beautiful waterfall. Went past the chinese border and then we took the evening train back to Hanoi. ... read more

Woke at station on the night train with no warning at all. We had to dash quickly off the train which we weren't to happy about. We took a transfer bus to Sapa village and checked into the hotel. We went for a late lunch at the Chocolate restaurant which was delicious, even though we didn't have time to eat any of the chocolate as we had to go sightseeing. We visited a small village for the Red Hat tribe. Each of us were tagged with our own personal sales woman, who for a whole hour followed us around the village trying to sell us tat. I bought a bracelet. In the evening we went for a group meal to a Vietnamese restaurant. I had spring rolls, watermelon juice and chicken noodles all for 50,000 dong ... read more

Probably one of the first proper lazy days I have had in about 5 weeks. I packed and checked out of the HORRIBLE Prince 55 Hotel and spent the whole day eating coconut ice creams and lying next to a swimming pool. For 3 usd I treated myself to the entrance/use of the Army swimming pool which was about 2km from the old center. It was lovely and relaxing until about 3pm when the pool got so packed there was about 1 person per square meter. In the evening I went and met the Gap tour group which I will/would be with for the next two weeks. We stayed in a really posh hotel, the cleanest and coolest hotel I have stayed in so far. It had AC ! which was much needed. We went out ... read more