Goodmorning Vietnam!

Hi Everyone,
We've been so busy the last couple of days we haven't found time to write!
We left Hong Kong by train to a town called Guangzhou (gwungjo). As soon as we got to the train station a man in a suit came from behind his desk and asked us where we were going and could he help, then he called the other station and asked if there were tickets available for our next train. He said he would take us in his taxi to the other station so we organised a price and walked around the corner to his van. Then about 300m down the road we were driven off the road by a police van, 2 cops got out and pulled our driver and the guy who was helping us out of the van, then another cop car drove up behind us and ANOTHER infront so that we were blocked in! Then all the cops stood around on the road for ages and put one guy in the back of their car and patted him down. When we asked the police they said that there was "something wrong with the car" - we figure they were either going to scam us, the car was stolen or it wasn't registered or something...anyway then they called us a taxi and we left.

BUT because we had taken so long waiting for the police and then trying to find an ATM that actually worked (China's banks are the most unhelpful and useless places...) we couldn't get tickets for the sleeper train that night, the only tickets that were left for the next day were hard seats.

For those of you that don't understand, on sleeper trains you can get soft sleepers - luxurious and spacious, hard sleepers - 6 beds in a cabin, cramped but comfortable, and hard seats - about 200 people in a cabin including crying babies, people shouting, people spitting in the isles...you get the picture. We spent the night on cramped, uncomfortable seats and the lights didn't go out and the kids accross the isle peed everywhere so that it slowly trickled over the floor to our bags and feet...worst night sleep EVER!

After arriving at about 4am we waited at the station until 8am and caught another train to a border town of China and then got a crazy took-took to the friendship pass. We met a couple of swedish girls who were trying to get to Hanoi aswell so we stuck with them. We then crossed the border (it took a long time and was very confusing) and got ANOTHER taxi who said he'd take us to the bus station but instead took us to a petrol station to meet his friend who drove a bus...but it wasn't too expensive so we got in, and he drove us to Hanoi! We found a room for US$7 a night and went to sleep for about 2 days!!

On Sunday evening our tour started. Our group leader is really cool, his name is Hung and he is always entertaining us. Our group has 10 people in it, there are 4 girls and 6 boys and 2 tour guides (one of them is training). The average age is about 24 but is probably risen by one couple in their 60s or so.

On Sunday we had a group dinner and checked out the local night life in Hanoi. Vietnamese food kills Chinese food - there is so much fresh fruit and vegies and BREAD! We got sick of all the pickled and fried stuff in China.

On Monday we went to see Ho Chi Minh's Musoleum - now we've seen about 3 dead guys on this trip! They get Russian experts to come each year and help preserve his body. Then we got a bus to Halong Bay and the first thing that Jack and I did when we got off was go to the beach! The water is absolutely beautiful, we watched the sun set from the water and then had a group seafood dinner.

This morning we took a boat cruise across Halong Bay to Cat Ba island. We stopped at a cave along the way to have a look around and then stopped in a cove and swam off the boat. We entertained ourselves by inventing new somersaults and dives to do from the edge of the boat, we all ended up with red backs!



We arrived at Cat Ba island this afternoon, there are all sorts of watersports and activities to do here but it's raining! Tomorrow we are going on a hike up a mountain somewhere.

Sorry that this was so long, we will try to write more frequently but we had to fit everything in! It's OK if you read this in installments. We have taken some really good photos but can't put any up today because the USB on this computer is broken (everything on this computer is broken, it just crashed and this is the second time I've written this bit, luckily I saved half way!). Hopefully you'll see some more photos soon!