We finally arrived in Vietnam!...after an incredibly complicated passage across the border from China. But it was worth it. Our time in Vietnam, working our way down from Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in the south, was fantastic. We love this country! Hanoi is a beautiful, bustling capital city. It has a strong influence from its French colonial past, evident in its architecture and more importantly for Joanna, its cakes! The French quarter is lined with lovely cafes and patisseries, particularly around St. Michael's Cathedral. We stayed in the Old Quarter, which has a much more quitessentially Vietnamese feel to it. Its narrow lanes are brimming with little shops, market stalls and street kitchens. It is also absolutely full of the favourite Vietnamese form of transport, the moped! It took us
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