Vacation in Vietnam

Yet another Cambodian national holiday last week gave me the opportunity to have a break in north Vietnam with a VSO friend. We started in hectic Hanoi, overrun by motorbikes but nonetheless full of charm and character. We joined the locals for a spot of early morning tai-chi by the central lake – a fine start to the day.
We then travelled on the overnight train to Sapa near to the Chinese border, to trek through stunning scenery. Many colourful ethnic hill-tribe people live in the area, and we were able to visit their homes, find out about their ways of life and watch the women sewing and embroidering all day – they always have a needle in their hand. Our vivacious trek guide, a member of the Hmong tribe, had a superb command of colloquial English learned from tourists; she named me “Diamond Geezer”!
We also hired motorbikes for a day to explore on our own.

We moved on to picture-perfect Halong Bay, where we stayed on a luxurious junk. As well as visiting caves and watching the gorgeous panorama as we went by, we also swam in the bay. The Bay was swarming with tour boats, but this didn’t spoil our time there. All in all, a great trip.