Marion and Julie's adventures in Vietnam part 1

Where to start. Marion and I had 10 days in Vietnam and are now recovering back in Singapore. We had a great time. I've taken hundreds of photos and written five pages about it, but condensing it for a blog is a bit daunting. I'll just put in some photos and if anyone is interested in reading about it, email me and I'll send the unedited version. Don't all rush me now. We started in Hanoi in the north of the country. Our hotel was of the basic variety, in the old quarter, which is indeed old, with a maze of narrow lanes and millions (literally) of motorcycles.We did a city tour and saw Ho Chi Minh in his Mausoleum (rigor mortis seemed fairly well advanced), lots of temples, pagodas, lakes, shops, people and motorbikes.
Marion contemplated a change of profession, but after finding out how heavy those carriers are, she decided her job was really good. Next we did a two day/one night trip on a junk to Halong Bay, about 3 hours from Hanoi. We stopped at the inevitable tourist trap which happily for me was a very interesting ceramics factory.

Halong Bay is a beautiful area, looking a bit the worse for wear with the numbers of people going there. We enjoyed it (while feeling environmentally superior as DoC indoctrinees). The flotilla belches diesel fumes in the harbour (and all along the way).

We started with a walk through some well over-visited and Disneyfied limestone caves, cruised serenely through stunning scenery

ate welltried out our best poses but were thwarted by humid hairand kayaked, but declined to swim, and this was why...

After our trip to Halong Bay, we returned to the same hotel in Hanoi for the last night and until 2pm the next day. Hanoi was interesting and I'd return there, and would particularly like to go further inland to Sapa, close to the Chinese border.