We left Laos in a rather dodgy looking aircraft for a 50 minute flight to Vietnam where our first stop is Hanoi....the city of wee mopeds!
This chap just started chatting to Clara amid the noise and chaos of the Hanoi streets.
There seemed to be people lining the pavements wherever we went. Some of them were having coffee or tea, or snacks at pavement cafes and others were just passing the time of day.
People selling food like this were all over the place.
A cyclo driver
We picked one of these up, belonging to the girl selling pineapple below - they weigh an absolute tonne!
The tax on cars is absolutely enormous, making them inaccessible for the vast majority - hence mopeds are used for EVERYTHING!
Halong bay is made up of limestone Karsts which jut straight out of the sea - even though Grace and Fi were feeling pretty rotten by now, we all still loved it.
The top deck of the Victory Star
Floating village....no schools with a population of about 300 - children can swim from the age of 3!
All the houses were very colourful....my suspicion is that this is done for tourism or maybe they watch Balamory!? Probably just that they use whatever paint is available at the time. Water and groceries are brought to them from the mainland.
Little caves, holes and arches everywhere...
Cropped from a much larger image, the stick is the top of a fishing boat........Mr Rock, can you see his face?!
The thing did fly!
HANOI
This chap just started chatting to Clara amid the noise and chaos of the Hanoi streets.
There seemed to be people lining the pavements wherever we went. Some of them were having coffee or tea, or snacks at pavement cafes and others were just passing the time of day.
Their training is coming along nicely!
People selling food like this were all over the place.
A cyclo driver
We picked one of these up, belonging to the girl selling pineapple below - they weigh an absolute tonne!
The tax on cars is absolutely enormous, making them inaccessible for the vast majority - hence mopeds are used for EVERYTHING!
We finally succumbed to the touristy Cyclo ride!
From the madness of Hanoi which we enjoyed but found a bit much, we headed for the peace and calm of
HALONG BAY
Our boat was called the Victory Star - she had three decks and really beautiful cabins.
Halong bay is made up of limestone Karsts which jut straight out of the sea - even though Grace and Fi were feeling pretty rotten by now, we all still loved it.
The top deck of the Victory Star
Floating village....no schools with a population of about 300 - children can swim from the age of 3!
All the houses were very colourful....my suspicion is that this is done for tourism or maybe they watch Balamory!? Probably just that they use whatever paint is available at the time. Water and groceries are brought to them from the mainland.
Walkabout! Order of march - ready for early morning visit to the caves
