Quang Minh Hotel Haiphong

... took a tumble and gave herself a nasty bruise the following day...no recollection of this though! Lesson learnt - stick to dancing on the ground!

The following day everyone on the boat looked totally worse for wear and that morning we were taken to our second night's accommodation - a place affectionatly known as Castaway Island - our own private beach to work our way though the hangover. The accommodation itself was open bamboo huts with mattresses laid ...

... foods or fruit that can be peeled. I eat only vegetarian or seafood anyway. The seafood is so fresh that I am certainly not going hungry. Today, Mr. Dung invited Tuyen and I to lunch along with Ms. Trang from the Hanoi Indochina Junk office. We went to a lovely local restaurant. The dishes were brought to the table in steaming water. That is the first time I had seen that!

I had a very adventuresome meal. I tried my best to taste ...

The best way to see Halong Bay, I have been assured by many sources, is an organised tour from Hanoi. There seems to be a big difference in price ranging from $50 (US) to several hundred. Having missed out on a tour I'd found recommended online at $176 we decided to plump for one through our Guesthouse. They had been excellent so far and worth taking the chance at a bargain of $88 per head. This included 3 days and 2 nights including all our food and ...

... each and a segment of orange. Again the staff had loads of local food and a big bottle of vodka for breakfast. Hopefully this day was going to be more successful than the previous.

Disappointed to find out we were not allowed to go swimming as it is forbidden due to the previous incident of people drowning in the typhoon. We soon relaised this was a lie as we saw other people jumping off the boat, we just had a tour who didn't care.

We soon arrived at Cat Ba island ...

... we
went walking around the caves in the bay. Even though we've seen
quite a few stalactites in our travels so far the tour was cool
because of the setting. After our little hike it was back to the
ship! The tour runs on a tight schedule – we pulled in promptly at
noon – the same time that we arrived – exactly 24 hours on a
boat. While we were eating lunch the crew was cleaning the rooms
because as soon as they ...

... Preise bezahlt, aber wir fragen uns wirklich, ob sie das extra machen und ob das nur bei Auslaendern passiert oder auch bei ihren Landsleuten. Eine Karte koennte man ja auch mit einem Kugelschreiber korrigieren bis man einen Drucker gefunden hat....

Ein anderes Beispiel ist uns in Hanoi in einem Supermarket passiert. Wir haben Sachen fuer 94'000 Dong an die Kasse gebracht. Schlussendlich stand auf der Kassenanzeige aber 107'000 Dong. Wir haben nur grob zusammengerechnet ...

... not immune to suspicion, and supermarket staff are often frisked when they finish their shift to ensure that they do not take anything away with them. While customers are never frisked, receipts are usually checked before customers walk through the metal detectors often situated at the exit. This is not overly unusual, unless you are at a small supermarket where the security guard is watching you pay for your purchase. Even if this is the case, the security ...

... to link the casino at Do Son with the casinos of Macau. For the record, I have been to Do Son twice. The first time I visited with a friend and his two cousins on motorbikes to sit on the beach, drink beer, eat strips of dried beef and get harassed by beach sellers who all decided to target the only Westerner on the beach. I was not very impressed by Do Son, but I visited again to have a better look around and to see for myself what all the fuss is ...

... buying helmets based more on their fashion impact than on the impact they can withstand in an accident. There is a huge array of styles on the market, and for those unable to afford the fanciest of them, there are accessories that help to turn an average helmet into a hat worthy of the fanciest lady at Ascot. While some people obviously spend an enormous amount of time making their helmet fit their wardrobe, there are also those who fail to consider them necessary for ...

... queezy.....and the thought of another drink makes my head spin......I'm glad that Jolie has "much love" for me or, I could have been in trouble. I'll end it here..........we're leaving for Saigon this evening and heading to the beach next week I am pretty sure..........stay tuned folks for more pictures from the amazing city of Saigon and the beautiful beaches of Mue Nei.................Peace for now......... See you on the "other side" Gee and Jolie.