Hanoi (Vietnam)

So after a somewhat stressful airport experience in Bangkok and a short flight later, we arrived at around 20:15 in Hanoi to a 33 degree temperature. We were pleasantly surprised how quick it took to get through passport control and get our luggage - we were even met by our very own "chauffeur" to take us to our hotel The Hanoi Cozy Hotel.

The journey from the airport was less pleasant however; there are no lanes in Vietnam, and thousands and thousands of mopeds carrying anything from 4 people to chickens, to someone carrying a baby in their arm (whislt driving). We held our breath for most of the journey, but arrived in one piece.

We got to our hotel, where the staff also held their breath at the size of our cases, which they kindly took up the stairs to our 3rd floor room (there is no lift - shock horror!!). They could not be more helpful here, and that goes for many of the locals we have met. After unpacking a little, James (Sams best friend) and some other boys from Birmingham Uni. came to meet us to go out for a drink. We ate in a really nice local restaurant, where everytime you ordered a bottle of water (which sam tends to have 6 of every meal), they would have to go out and buy one themselves - needless to say, the waitresses were also out of breath after our dinner.

Hanoi is a chaotic but an amazingly exhilirating city - we are in the heart of the old city, where a mix of rustic old buildings are adjoined by new hotels and coffee shops, all adding to the cities charm. Each street seems to have its own designated commerical trade, and after taking a 3 hour cyclo today (someone else of course doing the cycling) we managed to see DIY street, the clothing street (selling everything from Armani to Abercrombie to Next!), the paint street, the knife street etc.

We also visited the Temple of Literature which is basically the first University in Vietnam and over 1000 years old. We saw the opera house, Hanois equivalent of Park Lane and mopeds - lots and lots of mopeds that seem to hoot for absolutely no reason at all! We have found that crossing the road is like playing a game of tetrus - trying to fit the gap between the mopeds, cars, cyclos etc. We have found that if in doubt stand still and they will just go around you!

Tonight (Tuesday) we went out for dinner with our friends again this time to a restaurant reccomended by our Vietnam book. Clearly money was exchanged when recommending this restaurant as everything on the menu was either unavaliable or about 3 days old!!

Tomorrow (Wed) we plan to go see Ho Chi Minhs body (even though he died years ago gross!!!), and wander around the markets. We have beedn advised to go see the water puppet show tomorrow evening, which Hanoi is famous for.

We have decided to book a trip to Halong Bay leaving on Thurs. Anyone who has seen the Top Gear Vietnam special will know where we mean. We were offered three different tour options standard superior and deluxe. We'll leave it to you to guess which one we went for.... The trip is 2 nights and three days staying on a boat, we will let you know how it went when we return on Saturday night!

We will update you when we return from our Halong Bay trip, and miss you all!

Sam and Emxxx