We have a plan. Seeing as this is Mum and Dad's last week coming up in Vietnam, it was a unanimous decision to travel in style to visit the Mekong Delta and then lastly Phu Quoc island, both of which I think will be the highlights of Vietnam.

We booked through a well-established and recommended local tour company called Sinh Balo who specialise in booking private tours. We have opted for the 3 day/2-night cycling tour around the famous Mekong Delta which includes all transport, private guide, homestay in the village of Vinh Long, mountain bikes, food and private boat and minibus just for the four of us for the entire journey. We continue our travels to Phu Quoc island which will be paradise island jokes for the last 3 nights here. I won't lie, this has all come at a not-so-backpacker cost but I'm sure we won't regret it one bit :)

P.S. Managed to put photos up of Hanoi, Halong Bay and Hoi An:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kejalashra/sets/

Ah - It's been an exhausting few days! Hoi An has got hundreds of tailor shops and walking around all of them is tiring work, believe it or not. We originally had planned to stay 3 nights, giving enough time for the clothes to be made, however, had decided to stay an extra night. The hotel we are staying in, Thien Nga, has turned out to be really nice but it comes at a price of $25 a night (a lot in Vietnam!).

Hoi An seems a lot quieter and civilised in comparison to Hanoi. There are a lot of tourists, mainly for the shopping, yet the town remains interesting and full of character with many lantern-lit lanes adding to the ambience. Perhaps a little more commercial and 'resort-like' than we'd expected, but still well worth coming to.

Now the best part - the clothes. Both Ketan and I set out with no budget (mistake) and I had been looking forward to getting some tailor-made dresses for a while. We had print-outs of all the designs we wanted from high-street shops so replicating the clothes wouldn't be a problem. Bargaining was half the fun. Because there are *so* many tailors you'd need to spend at least 2 days just doing research in each shop to see how the prices compare. Being on a tight schedule puts the pressure on but we found a great tailor who catered for our needs perfectly with good quality material/labour. In total, Ketan bought two 3-piece suits, jeans, casual trousers, trench coat and hand-made shoes all for $310. I bought 3 summer/casual dresses, 1 silk dress, jeans, smart trousers & trench coat for $173. I have to say these prices were a lot more than I'd thought they'd be - especially with the exchange rate not being in favour. I thought we'd roll in and it would be a fraction of the price compared to London - how mistaken we were :) It seems like the Vietnamese are catching on to the fact tourists have money to spend - damn them!

We've had some great eating experiences yet again, including an Italian place called 'Good Morning Vietnam' coming up trumps. The sight seeing went as far as the tailor shops and cute lanes we saw everyday, and the ridiculous amount of lanterns lit up all over the town! Overall a great, but costly, stop :)

The first thing anyone would recommend to do after Hanoi is Halong Bay - about 3 hours from here. We opted for the deluxe overnight junk boat (costing $79 pp) and I'm pretty glad we chose that because the boat and rooms were luxurious and clean. The food was mediocre (although Dad would use the term 'rubbish') but the scenery made up for it. We were a bit unlucky with the weather as it was quite foggy so seeing the thousands of islands surrounding the boat was quite a challenge. Neverless, it was beautiful in a more mysterious way.

Mum and Dad have been with us for a couple of days now and it's certainly been eventful with them here! So far Dad has spilled two drinks, slipped down the stairs on the boat and had a VERY loud foghorn blown in his ear on the boat - amusing :) They both really like Hanoi & Halong Bay too, which is a relief. Although going up North of Vietnam to Sapa is something that Ketan and I want to put into our itinerary, it would be a tight squeeze for Mum and Dad on their holiday so we'll travel down South first and if we have time to go at the end, we will.

Today we've been cramming in the last of Hanoi before we flee. There are some great French patisseries in Hanoi from when the French were around, as their influence lingers in some respects. Before dinner we pigged out on mille fueille, profiteroles, cakes etc - all for only 3 pounds. We were recommended by my brother to go for some 'Bia Hoi', fresh local beer pretty much in street stalls full of locals for only 15p a glass - what a bargain :)

As I type, we are waiting in Hanoi Guesthouse for a 16-hour sleeper train to Hoi An, which leaves in 1 hour. Dad tried to convince us to take a plane from here to Hanoi, but I thought it would be a good experience for us to take a rickety old train.. We'll find out tomorrow afternoon if that was a wise decision, or whether Dad will be saying 'I told you so'. I'm looking forward to Hoi An. This is the place which is famous for getting an entire wardrobe tailored for yourself for about 100 pounds! We've been on all the high-street shop websites and printed a lot of pictures for the tailors to copy, perhaps a little over-ambitious but it's worth a try, eh..?

So we've been in Hanoi for 2 whole days now. It is my favourite city of the whole trip (so far). You don't get hassled like you do in Bombay, the people are so chilled out. The restaurants are small and lively and the motorbike traffic is immense! (But the city doesn't smell at all - Phew!) Initially, I was pretty overwhelmed by urban life in Hanoi. All we needed was a little nap to revive ourselves though, it had been a long flight.

Before leaving the hotel for dinner, it felt pretty daunting to go out in 'that world'. It might sound silly but it was so busy and vibrant - we hadn't seen that since Fiji, and even that isn't on the same league as this place!

Yesterday night was one night I won't forget. We went to a restaurant called Bar 69 for some amazing fresh local food which I've been longing for since leaving home. Both of us had a bowl of pho (pronounced 'fer' - rice noodle soup dish), which the locals traditionally eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, accompanied by Hanoi-style pork spring rolls - to die for. After dinner we got lost around the Old Quarter and ended up near the Hoam Kiem Lake. There was this huge junction completely buzzing with locals and a 1000 or more motorbikes (being a Saturday night, naturally) and I saw a coffee place on this 4-st