2 Comments Cat Ba Island delivered chaotic hotels, a £2 local ferry through Ha Long Bay, cracked helmets held together with tape, and one of the best coastal motorbike rides in Vietnam.
Monthly archives: May 2026
2 Comments 
1 Comment Well… our “free transfer” from Hanoi to Cat Ba didn’t exist 😄
The bus left without us, we accidentally joined someone else’s cruise, ended up on a speedboat, and finally arrived at a hotel where Craig immediately refused the room (which tells you everything).
Four nights later we were by the pool debating the true purpose of hotel kettles and quietly preparing for home.
Travel is strange like that. Chaos first, calm later.
From Hanoi Horns to Karst Calm: Our Slightly Improvised Journey ... Recently updated !
Hanoi gave us six days of wandering, humidity, cathedral calm, police raids on plastic stools and possibly the strangest restaurant experience we’ve ever had.
We didn’t quite click with it… although that may have had something to do with arriving straight after Ha Giang and realising we’d completely lost our mojo.
Hanoi: Old Quarter Wandering, Lost Mojo and the World’s Emptiest ... Recently updated !
3 Comments Three days sick in Ha Giang, deckchairs trapped me, Craig battled a geyser tap, and the IDP denied our loop dreams. Comedy, mountains, despair.
Ha Giang Loop: The Adventure That Never Happened
1 Comment Craig yakking, driver high, me sliding round a sleeper cabin like a frantic seal — that was our Sapa to Ha Giang journey. Hairpins, banana‑tree safety barriers, squat loos, and eight hours of scenic terror. We arrived sweaty, shaken, and absurdly grateful for clean sheets.
Sapa to Ha Giang Sleeper Bus: Hairpin Bends, Mountain Roads ...
We left Sapa with flu, optimism, and a motorbike flinging mud at anything within a five‑metre radius. Craig was yakking like he’d been hired as the official spokesperson for mucus, and I was hanging on like an underpaid stunt double. The roads twisted, the views exploded, and the whole thing felt like a low‑budget action film starring two wheezy tourists who should probably be in bed.