I think I have found the person with the best job in the universe. His name is Anderson and he's a six-foot Californian with a taste for tequila.

He spends six days a week taking chirpy youngsters around the most beautiful bay in South East Asia on an old-fashioned (but cosy) wooden junk.

He spends the morning jumping off the boat into the warm sea, the afternoon kayaking around the bay to deserted melting caves, before weighing anchor at a deserted island to lie in a hammock while smiley Vietnamese men bbq squid for dinner. Not bad eh?

I had a three day taste of it, and believe me it is marvellous! Halong Bay is currently vying for a place on the 'natural wonders of the world' list and after noisy Hanoi it is a breath of fresh air.

The water glitters, the craggy rocky islands seem to float and the boat drifts lazily into the endless blue. The food was delicious, the island was straight out of a movie (we even slept in open huts!) and their were moments that I just wanted to bottle.

As the sun began to dip, sending warm shadows across the bay, I was paddling dreamily in a kayak. I could have been in heaven.

After travelling alone for a few weeks and shouldering the responsibility of my every waking moment, I quite enjoyed being scheduled and organised; dinner was served at the sound of a gong which disturbed us from our sunny slumbers under the palm trees.

I also enjoyed the company of others and they were quite a batch. Medics from Quebec, chefs from Sydney and a Texan guy with no more plans than sticking to a promise that he would eat his Mum's xmas dinner on Christmas day 2010. It was good to hear where they had been and what they had left behind.

I arrived back into Hanoi very tired and hot but utterly chilled, with just enough time to stuff my bikini away before I boarded a bus to Hue.

Thirteen hours became 15 but in my dreamy state I managed to sleep amid the constant drone of horns that serve as indicators and mirrors on the roads of Vietnam.

So Hue: my next adventure. Most travellers have been non-plussed about it, which only increased my curiosity.

So far I have stumbled to a hostel, showered, put all my clothes into be washed (hurray! and only a pound) and now begin to feel human again as the tea slips down my throat. I am ready to face the furnace and explore my new place.