When talking about Hanoi, people think about food, particularly noodle soup, but they forget about the amazing flowers in Hanoi. I've been in love with Quang Ba flower market right since the first time I went there with my friends who lived nearby. This is the wholesale flower market which operates from 12am to 6am the next day. There are hundreds of growers around Hanoi coming here to trade flowers, selling to florists in the city and street sellers, the rest to couples and people like me who love flowers.

I love Hanoi, although I just came to Hanoi for only one time. However, that time was my best time ever.

I came to Hanoi on an autumn day, and my first feeling was the feeling of a peaceful space, not like in Ho Chi Minh City. That feeling was overwhelming all my soul when I was walking along Nguyen Du Street and enjoying the Milk flower. Why was it so beautiful here? In the early winter night, in slightly cold spread hoarfrost, sitting on the bank of Thien Quang Lake, whether at the other side, I still smelt its perfume. I walked along the street and dropped myself in a sweet smell of Milk flower, the wind blew my hair, and I felt so great.

One thing that should definitely be on your itinerary is a trip to Le Mat - Snake Village! It’s about 10-15 minutes from Old Quarters on the back of a motorcycle-taxi, and trust me, you do want to take a taxi. Any taxi driver will be able to take you there, drop you off, and pick you up a couple of hours later.

On winter holiday in Russia, it’s quite cold so my husband and I decided to make a plan to Vietnam. The reason why I chose that Southeast Asia country is to be recommended by my closest friend, Julia, she said booked a tour via vietnamgrouptour.com and had a great trip.

Alarm goes off at 04:00 and I hit snooze. It goes off again and I turn it off. Next thing I know it's 05:30 and I'm meat to be down in reception to be collected. A quick shower and yesterdays clothes and I'm in the lobby within 10 minutes.

26/2/10 - Ba Be National Park is 240km northwest of Hanoi, it takes about 6 hours to drive there along a mixture of highway and then windy back roads. The countryside along the way is hilly and the roads were lined with a lot of school kids on bicycles. The country was dryer than that around Cuc Phuong and there had been a drought in the area over recent times.

Many of the towns we passed through were dusty, frontier places. The eatery that we stopped at for lunch had enough Vodka stockpiled in boxes to keep half of Russia happy. Some folks around towns like Bak Kan obviously had big drinking problems.

Wow, coming into Hanoi City from the airport was an eye opener!!! Zillions of motor bikes, buses, taxis, trucks coming at you, beside you, in front, sideways...

We arrived at Jasmine Hotel 2, which is situated across the road from Hoan Kiem Lake, you walk down a narrow lane before you come to the hotel, it is 7 storeys high, no lift. It is family owned and they are all very friendly and went out of their way to please us.

The room was clean, spacious and very asian modern looking. We settled in and decided to hit the streets... crossing the roads is an art in itself, we worked out you do not hesitate because if you do, thats when you will get hit! The bikes go behind you, just watch the buses and taxis, they are not so patient!! 

We stayed in a very welcoming and helpful family run hostel in HCMC who advised us to eat in a nearby seafood night market (which was super tasty), explained all the sights and arranged our trip to the Chu Chi Tunnels for us.

The Mekong Delta is the largest river in Southeast Asia and an adventure down this is something you must do when you visit Ho Chi Minh City. It’s a massive brown river with a dense green jungle that sits along side it. For this trip down the Mekong on Wednesday 10 November, we booked a private tour so it could just be the tour guide, Paul and I.

I never thought I would wake up on a boat set in one of the worlds most beautiful backdrops on Christmas day... but on the 25th Dec 2010, I did just that.