This of course meant that our China experience was restricted to looking out of the window and watching the country go by, but we decided in the end to stick to the itinerary and press on straight through. As you'd expect from a country with a staggering 20% annual economic growth rate, construction, industry and development was apparent everywhere. One unfortunate consequence of this is the pollution that's created by the sea of factories in the south of the country. Hong Kong is noticeably more polluted than it was six years ago from the fumes drifting over the city and, upon getting off the coaches from time to time, the atmosphere was incredibly stifling and nauseating. Apart from this, the countryside did seem fairly picturesque and I saw a few cliches, such as wooden houses on stilts and people tending fields with ox.

Into Vietnam and the scenery is breathtaking – I've never seen anything like it. Appearances can be deceptive though, for the country has had a tough time, especially during the 20th century. A former French colony, they were invaded by Japan during the Second World War and, upon the end of the war declared themselves independent. The French, however, disagreed and the Indo-China War between the two countries commenced in 1946 and lasted until 1954. The Vietnamese were victorious but enjoyed peace for only nine years when civil war broke out between the Communist north and the Vietminh south. Afraid of the so-called "domino effect" whereby one country after another would turn Communist, the Americans soon joined in on behalf of the south and the country was again at war, this time until 1975. In the end, the Communists won and have controlled the country ever since. A brief war with China in 1979, and it is quite apparent how conflict and a siege mentality has shaped the national character.

Hanoi is an incredibly active city, always something to grab your attention. Very hectic, it is one of those places you are forced to toughen up very quickly, there always being someone trying to sell you something. The most alarming thing is the traffic. Pavements are almost permanently occupied by motorbikes so pedestrians are forced to walk on the road. This isn't so bad - just keep single file and you'll be OK - but crossing the street takes a little getting used to. The problem is that there are virtually no traffic lights and the streets are incredibly busy, mainly with motorbikes, so in order to cross, you have to walk slowly into the traffic watching the oncoming vehicles and allowing them to swerve around you. You can't go too fast because you need to allow them to avoid you. That said, it is amazingly fairly orderly.

Despite being a Socialist state, Hanoians to a man seem to be going the other way and embracing the market in the hope of reaping it's potential benefits. Everyone seems to have something for sale, either tangible or as a service, and every square foot of the city seems to be a suitable place for some sort of trade to take place. A visit to the Museum of Ethnology confirms the human instinct to make money in order to survive or improve one's lot. There is an exhibition on life in Vietnam during the 1980s, when the country was incredibly impoverished, strict rationing was in place and ownership of basic goods such as bicycles was a luxury that required a license. Because the market was so closed, economically liberating policies still some years away and the importation of goods being severely restricted, poverty and malnutrition occurred on a massive scale. The point is that the response of many citizens to this position was to try and create for themselves a little extra on the side from what the State was providing. They harvested their own crops, maintained their own livestock, made their own clothes and other day-to-day goods, primarily to provide for themselves but, once they had achieved that, to sell to others for profit. And this is what advocates of Communism refuse to acknowledge - not everyone is going to put the same effort in as everyone else. So how do you reward those who work harder? The natural human spirit, whilst putting importance on values such as community and togetherness, will generally favour looking out for number one. Why should a person rely on others to provide for them when they can do a better job themselves? The result is that supposed Socialist states, such as Vietnam and China, are so only in name.

Vietnam's economic growth rate may not be as large as China's but, at 8%, is twice that of Britain's. Everyone I speak to who lives here, be they Vietnamese or expats, are optimistic for the country's prospects. Around 30% of people go to university and work is continuously easier to find, the unemployment rate being 7%. About 15 years ago the government opened the markets, the result being a strengthened economy and the current growth of most industries, especially finance and tourism. Agriculture is another big sector, approximately 20% of the population being employed here and for the first time recently, they have produced enough of the national crop, rice, to export some of it rather than simply consume it all themselves. It is still an obviously poor country though - the average income is only $600 and there is a sizeable chunk of the population who are being left behind in the race for newly available national wealth.

After nearly two weeks, we decided it was long overdue time to leave Hanoi. It is a fun, lively place but somewhere I could happily not come back to - the hassle factor from the traders is quite high and the streets are so stupidly busy it can be hard to relax. For our next stop, we left city life behind and headed north to Sapa, only a few hundred miles away but a different world entirely.