You win some, you lose some

This morning we woke up to our first rain in Vietnam ... but still in the high 20s so we decided to get a Grab (the Asian version of Uber) to a beach 20 minutes from our hotel. "Are you sure?", our driver asked us, incredulously...

We'd have been hard-pushed to find a more desolate spot. Pretty-much deserted, misty, and with an air of complete abandonment. There was even a dead dog lying on the sand, next to a rotting armchair.

Undeterred, we walked half a mile up the coast to where some boats were moored (in extras), where we had a funny sign-language conversation with the owner about how rough the sea was. On the way back to our waiting taxi (he's assured us we wouldn't need more than half an hour and he was right!) we spotted  this chap on a motorbike. If it wasn't a modern moped it could have been a scene out of a 'Nam war movie, we thought.

Anyway, it's all part of the fun. We're going to have a lazy afternoon – maybe a swim in the pool, maybe a stroll round the city attempting some street photography, and then dinner at a wonderful place we found last night. Set meal for two, plus a couple of beers each, was £7. Can't go wrong with that :)

There's also an extra of a very striking young lady who we met at the Imperial Palace yesterday. She was having a photoshoot but only on an iPhone and I just had to ask if I could take a few shots with a proper camera!

Tomorrow morning we fly to Hanoi and transfer straight to Sa Pa, up in the Northern Highlands.