The Drift - Hostel Hanoi

... Kiem Lake, a couple of blocks east of the hostel. Once I'd found it I actually realised I was starving, so I went to a little family-run restaurant a few minutes from the north end of the lake. Afterwards I headed back to the lake. I'd say it's around 500 metres long by 150 metres wide, so not huge, but it was lovely to walk around and definitely provided a certain respite from the hectic, moped-led freneticism of the city streets. The locals seem to agree, as all around scores ...

Spent a couple of days in Vietnam's new capital, Hanoi. We visited Ho Chi Min's old Presedential Palace, his 2 houses (kept in pristine condition), his garage full of vintage cars and a museum pretty much dedicated to him. Was nice to have a wonder around, although I am not very up to date ...

... time to Halong Bay. The first day was spent relaxing after Sapa and booking on one of the hundreds of Halong Bay options. We went for a trip on “The Black Pearl”, but more on that a bit later. The second day back in Hanoi, was our second attempt at visiting the Museum of Ethnology and I’m pleased to report that this time things went without a hitch. The museum was pretty good and told about all of the tribes in Vietnam, explaining where they’re based, what they ...

I can't say that Cory and I did too much to celebrate American Independence, but we had a decent enough last day in Hanoi. We slept until around check out time in our really beautiful hotel (which had still only been $10) and packed our things up to return to the first guest house we stayed in during our time in Hanoi. When we finally checked out and made it back across the street, we were told that there were no air conditioned rooms left, and we were offered the ...

... in. After about 20 minutes of slowly moving along we came to this huge, black, marble structure - the Mausoleum. Guards in pristine white uniforms and (loaded) guns were everywhere, and once we were inside we weren't allowed to talk or even have our hands in our pockets. We were led up some stairs (all in silence) and into an air conditioned room. There in a glass sarcophagus in the centre was the body of Ho Chi Minh. Apparently the ...

... to say 'hello'. However, I cannot say the same about the large towns and cities. While I was researching routes for Vietnam I came across several cycling blogs or forums where people were divided about Vietnam. One guy said 'I didn't like Vietnam. I didn't like the people or the fact that I felt ripped off at every given opportunity'. I thought that was a bit harsh at the time, but now I have to agree to a certain extent. In our opinion, Vietnam is ...

... pulled off the side of the road and announced we were at our guest house. We needed to wait a minute while someone came to fetch us. And sure enough, a few minutes later, a man arrived at the window of our car and after we gathered our gear, we were off to the guesthouse. We followed him across the busy street dodging motorbikes that passed within inches of us, then we headed down a narrow alley filled with pedestrians and at regular intervals a honking ...

... Saigon) in the south, from where we'll fly to Hong Kong before coming back to London for 3 nights to attend our good friends Milly & Sven's wedding, which we're REALLY looking forward to!

When we're back in London Katie will see her mates and I'll see mine, so if any of you are around on Friday night in central London let me know, it would be great to see you! ;)

Ok, Katie has just got back after calling ...