Gap Yahhhhh Travels: Vietnam: Hanoi - Cat Ba - Hanoi - Nah Trang

Hey All,

Life in Vietnam is good! We crossed from China at Hekou to Lao Cai in Vietnam, it was very surprising how different things were on the other side of the border. We then took a train to Hanoi that took a couple of hours longer than we expected...

Hanoi is a cool place, we were in the old quarter which has loads of character and more importantly loads of decent restaurants! Vietnam was once a French colony and subsequently there are many influences in the food and drink; The Vietnamese have their own take on the baguette, their own wine and a rather nutty coffee...

We were knackered on the first night so pretty much ate and then crashed out. The next day we went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, but uncle Ho was off in Russia being re-pickled. So we took lunch in this awesome restaurant and then walked back to the old quarter. That evening we met Bo and ate in a street restaurant famous for it's pigeon. We had enjoyed some 'Bia Hoi' (Vietnamese homebrew; it has no added preservatives so tastes very fresh...) before and then preceded to head out on the town. We got in quite late, and Bo nearly missed his flght the next morning as he fell asleep in the departure lounge only to be woken by a security guard and then driven to the waiting plane.

We headed to Cat Ba Island the following day where we choose a hotel above a very lively bar..oops. The following day we went on a tour of Lan Ha bay. We had choosen Cat Ba to escape the tourists of Halong Bay and we were not dissappointed. We only saw one other tour boat that day also out of Cat ba and we would have bays and beaches completely to ourselves. The weather was beautiful and the karst scenery pretty spectacular. Lunch on the boat was also very good, so I was very chuffed. The next day we spent on the beach enjoying the sun and fresh sea food. The day after we returned to Hanoi for our flight to Nha Trang the following day. We had breakfast in this awesome french cafe that did the tastiest eggs benedict before leaving the sunny north for rainy south...

We landed in Nha Trang and it was raining, we got the town and it was raining and it just didnt stop. The streets had no drains so were completely flooded. Nha Trang is the most developed of the Vietnamese beach resorts and hasloads of good international cuisine. Things we ate that were not Vietnamese: Coq au Vin avec gratin daupinoise, Soupe à l'oignon, croissant, Pain au chocolat and pizza to name but a few. The weather was so bad we decided to go to Mui Ne the following day.

The weather in Mui Ne was considerably better and we spent the next few days sunning ourselves and chilling out. Jens bday was the day after we arrived and there was a little wind so i took her out for a windsurfing lesson. There were so many jellyfish though that she got scared and wanted to go back in, so I dropped her off and had a little play for a bit...We went out for a nice meal in the evening and then some drinks in a swanky bar. We hired a scooter the following day and went to the large sand dunes 20km away, these were ok but not worth the hassle of little kids following you around demanding that you pay them for use of their sledge...

We're headed to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) tomorrow and then into the Mekong delta on our way to Phu Quoc island. Sorry if this is quite short but the sun is roasting outside and I need to edge Jen in the tanning war...

Love To All xxx