Day 13. My Last Hurrah in Vietnam (and a Scooter Adventure)

Well, today started like any other, with my usual breakfast followed by a flight from Saigon to Hanoi. It's my last day, folks! I didn't actually land in Hanoi until around 4:30, which left me with just enough time for a frantic souvenir dash (think 'Amazing Race' but with less running and more bewildered shop owners).

Tonight, I finally got to properly hook up with Anna, the young lady who has pretty much made this entire trip possible. We all went out for dinner with her and her friend – her 'soul sister,' who I believe is named Tracy and her boyfriend, Lin. If I've butchered those names, I sincerely apologise. Their faces are on my blog, though, so you can put a name to the wonderfully patient faces. (I'm trying to narrate this right next to a bloody speaker in a rooftop bar, so it keeps cutting out, but I'm going to carry on regardless!)

We had a wonderful, typical Vietnamese meal: fish and what looked suspiciously like garden weeds. But, being a brave explorer of all things edible, I tried them, and they were actually quite nice. Who knew weeds could be so… delightful? Then, we decided to take a stroll down through Beer Street to procure a wonderful egg coffee before I hopped on a scooter back to the hotel.

Now, before I close this particular diary entry, there's something vital I need to say. If it hadn't been for Anna, this holiday simply wouldn't have happened. It's been made ten times better by her intervention; she's booked everything for me and treated me with the kind of affectionate pragmatism usually reserved for slightly bewildered grandads. What a wonderful, wonderful lady she is.

Her company is called CYCLO TRAVEL. If I've gotten that wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me, but I'm going to ask Anna to send me all the details so I can update my blog at a later date. I haven't done a proper round-up yet, but tomorrow, I'll be doing just that – summarising my holiday, detailing all the ins and outs of Anna and her company, where I've been, what I've done, what *not* to do, and basically just pulling it all together.

No problems to report for today, which, I must admit, is rather unusual. I normally manage to stumble into some form of minor chaos. The only thing heart-racing today was me perched on the back of Annas scooter. She probably weighs about as much as my left leg, and yet she circumnavigated the streets of Hanoi with the truthfulness and daring of a professional race car driver. I was sitting on the back, quietly confident but also acutely aware of a few 'hairy moments' that, I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed. You know me, I'm an adrenaline junkie!

Anyway, I'm off downstairs now to pack and get ready. At 5 AM, I'm out of here for an 8 AM flight. Then, it's off to Abu Dhabi, from Abu Dhabi to Manchester, and from Manchester back to Leeds, straight into the bosom of my waiting family. I'll have tales of all kinds of wonderful things – and a few presents, too. Thanks for putting up with me through these last two weeks, rather eventful, weeks!