Hanoi

Kayaking at Halong Bay
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Han Oi

Our first stop in Vietnam was Han Oi. After a taxi driver tried to rip us off and haggling for a room we decided to go for drinks in Le Pub. After some advice from the pub manager we ended up in Solace, the only nite club in Han Oi and it's on a boat!

The next day we walked around the city, saw the markets and got to grips with crossing the roads considering mopeds are constantly whizzing pass and there is no such thing really as adhering to traffic lights or pedestrian crossing. We got cycloes (rick shaws) to the Ho Chi Minh Mosseleum. The following day we went to Halong Bay. It involved us getting bruised all over our legs by trying to get in and out the boats. Halong Bay was beautiful and we saw the "Surprising Cave" where you can make out King Kong, Superman, a lion etc in the rocks.

Halong Bay
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After our return from Halong bay we went to see the water puppets which was brilliant. That night we got our first sleeper train to Hue.

Hue

Hue was a small little town with not a huge amount to see. We visited the citadel and the following day went the DMZ (Demilitarised Zone from the Vietnam war). On our trip to the DMZ we were brought into the Vinh Moc Tunnels where a whole village lived for 5 years during the war. All over this part of the country side was covered with grave stones.

Rush hour in Hanoi
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Hoi An

Hoi An was a lovely quaint town. A lot more relaxed and quiter than the previous places we had been too. Immediately we went to the tailors and start ordering our new wardrobes!! Each day we cycled 5km to and from the beach, the bikes got some getting used to. We celebrated Joanna's birthday there and the budget was blown for that night!! We bumped into people we have met along the way and a group from Sydney so it was a great night. It was also the first night that we spotted rats but they kept away so it was all fine. As a treat for Joanna (and us) we got manicures and pedicures the next day although the dreaded deet ruined them a bit. We also got lift on mopeds down to have some birthday cake.