Good bye Vietnam

It's our last day in Hanoi. And Vietnam. Getting around here is a nightmare. There are no recognisable landmarks and the shops all look the same. Basically, I keep getting lost. And having a map that is wrong didn't help either (this has been confirmed by 2 other people in my group so it's not just my inept orienteering skills that keep me going in the wrong direction). You walk down one street and every single shop is selling door handles and then you turn right and all the shops are selling toys, another one just sells herbs, or clothes or DVDs etc etc and then when you think you've got it all figured out, you end up on a street predominantly used for washing motorbikes! Where the hell is the hotel?!! And the motorbike taxis are relentless. They keep harrassing you to take them and the taxis try to bamboozle you with astronomic fares. I've taken to ignoring them now or just shouting "No thank you!". I'm glad we're leaving for Laos tomorrow. Unfortunately, it also means we're losing a quarter of the group. Jake and Sarah are doing Laos on their own, Lee is staying in Hanoi for a few more days and is then off to Japan and Dom is off to the full moon party in Thailand. It'll feel quite strange.

Enough moaning about Hanoi. Let me tell you about my motorbike tour of Hue. Whizzing through Vietnamese houses in the countryside and local markets selling ducks in non-RSPCA conditions and muddy paths lining the high-definition green paddy fields of Hue, you're transported into a completely different world inhabited by people doing back-breaking work to make ends meet and kids running alongside you and waving hello. Vietnam is beautiful. Have I said that already? It's so unbelievably beautiful and I can't help thinking that it's all a dream that I'm here. Can't say the same for some of the people though......

One of the highlights of Vietnam was our boat trip to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is otherworldly and divine, its 300 islands covered in mist so thick and forests so green, you can almost believe that some mystical dragon is lying dormant in one of the many underground caves and lagoons. Sitting at the front of the boat with my feet dangling over the edge and the breeze in my face and hair, I didn't want the ride to end. I suggested we commandeer the boat. Everyone agreed.... Yeah, that was the extent of our attempted mutiny.

I've been using SPF 50+. Fat lot of good it's been doing. I'm so brown now.

We're going to a water puppet show tonight. Laters dudes!