On the trail

After 7 nights in Hoi An we managed to prise ourselves away from the beautiful beaches and headed back to Hanoi. We took the fourteen hour overnight sleeper train in the relative luxury of a 'soft sleeper berth'. Our compartment comprised of four beds - us on one side of the cabin and a Vietnamese family of four on the other! Fortunately their two young girls were well behaved and slept most of the journey.

The streets of Hanoi were crazy; every junction seems to be viewed as a test of a driver's courage as hundreds of motorbikes pour through with horns blazing without slowing down. It's a surprise that we didn't see more than two road accidents and one dead body during our stay. Fortunately the body had been dead for 41 years and belonged to Ho Chi Minh.

Our trip to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum was a bizarre experience and the Vietnamese approach to queuing provided as much interest as looking at the waxy embalmed body. The museum is only open from 8am - 11:30am and with the dress code which forbids shorts and sleeveless shirts we arrived early to beat the queues and the oppressive heat which was all the more unbearable in trousers. We queued for an hour in a long line of mostly Vietnamese who took every possible opportunity to try and sneak past us.

Once inside the mausoleum a large number of guards kept the shuffling queue moving and we passed around the glass case containing the peaceful looking body. For many of the local Vietnamese it appeared to be an emotional experience to see their former leader, and they pressed together their hands and bowed their heads as they passed.

The rest of our time in Hanoi was spent visiting air conditioned museums and galleries in an attempt to escape the heat and learn about Vietnamese history and culture. Our evenings were spent drinking local draught beer at 15p a glass, and trying to keep Meg out of the shops . . . especially those selling lanterns.