Tuesday 25 August

The morning dawned to a cacophony of tooting horns and motor cycles, they hadn't really stopped all night but you sort of zone out after a while. Mind you 5.30 was certainly early. We looked out of the window and along the street were people of all ages doing their morning exercises. It looks like it might be a form of Tai Chi - we will have to investigate further. It was already 27 degrees. We met up with some other people who are also travelling to Lang Son and with a few that have been already.

We decided that we would take a walk towards Hoan Kiem Lake, it is in the centre of our district. The heat was incredible, we got as far as a very large department store and I'm afraid to say air conditioning beckoned.

We made it to the Lake after lunch. It is incredibly beautiful with a pagoda at the top end. You have to cross a bridge to reach the temple itself. That's for another day though. We walked to Lan Van Cam which is nicknamed 'Buggy Street' where we purchased - well I'll leave that for you to figure! We had to get a taxi back, thank goodness. I even managed to swim today, the hotel has a pool outside on the 4th floor.

Tomorrow is getting ever nearer. I think anxiety describes best what we are currently feeling - not sure how much sleep will be had this evening.

That's all for now, short and sweet - we leave for Lang Son at 10.30 am tomorrow our time.