Hanoi

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We arrived in Hanoi at midday, when we got off the train we got pestered for hotels & taxi's more than we had ever before. When we went to leave the station Claire was so annoyed that she didn't release that the two ladies stood by the door were checking tickets, (not pestering people offering hotels & taxis). She went to storm past them & they both blocked her way, she nearly floored them, I had to calm her down & explain to her that they only wanted to see her ticket, she laughed afterwards but they didn't look happy!

We tried to find the hotel we were after only to discover the guide book had put the number on the wrong street so we found somewhere else instead, cheap & cheerful, a dormitory room with three beds. We had something to eat & went to find the booking office for the water puppetry theatre where we booked two tickets for the 21.15pm showing.

We walked to Hoan Kiem Lake & went across The Huc (Sunbeam) Bridge to Ngoc Son Temple. We walked down the banks of the lake to a pagoda & took some photos. We walked on to the Hoa Lo Prison or 'Hanoi Hilton' as nicknamed from by the American's during the war, it was also a prison to Vietnamese Communists by the French & had a look around.

In the evening we went to a great little place for dinner where Claire had five spices duck & I had these prawn things that came on a bamboo stick & the man had to show me how to make them. You put the prawn in Vietnamese Rice paper, add some noodles, green leafs, peanuts & bean sprouts, roll it up & dip it in sweet chilli sauce. They were really good & we had homemade ice cream for dessert.

We then went to the Water Puppet Theatre, you got a free fan when you went in which amused Claire & I; I even managed to lose mine before leaving the theatre. I think the highlights were the jumping frog puppets, the dog that climbed trees & the swimming man that did front crawl & back stroke, very impressive. We decided to have a few drinks so went to a Bia Hoi, (outdoor beer place), it was only 2000 Dong for a glass of beer, that is about six & a half pence! We went to purchase a bottle of vodka, (a half litre bottle) was 20,000 Dong plus a big bottle of coke which was 10,000 so together it came to less than a pound!

We went back to our room & met our room mate, Kez, (Kieran) from Melbourne. I accused him of stinking out the room but later discovered it was the drain in the bathroom, luckily he was a good guy & saw the funny side of it! He made Claire & I laugh a lot by telling us he thought we were 18, (Claire is 27) & also by saying 'Fair Dinkem' after everything. We sat up gossiping until the early hours, I think Kez loved to gossip with girls!

Sunday we all had a lie in as we had been having lots of early mornings, got up & got ready, had a late breakfast - I found somewhere that did Beans on Toast although it wasn't like home! I have started drinking black tea, what is the world coming too!

We booked a trip to Ha Long Bay for Monday till Wednesday night, walked to the train station & booked a ticket for Wednesday night for the night train to Lao Cai & can get a minibus from the station to Sapa. By booking directly we saved about three pound fifty! So we shall do the same of the way back.

We walked around the Citadel & up to the One Pillar Pagoda, then we went for a wander around the Ho Chi Minh Museum. When we came out we bumped into the Bristol guys, (Charlie & Pete), who are doing the same route as us they were also going to Ha Long Bay the following day. We tried to go to the Presidential Palace & Ho Chi Minh's House but it was 4.30pm & they had closed at 4pm. We walked past the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, (where Ho's body now lies embalmed) & through Ba Dinh Square before heading back home.

We booked a flight to Laos, (Luang Prabang) for Sunday 21st & had something to eat. We went home & had another late night sat up chatting with Kez.

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Photos

Tree by Hoan Kiem Lake
I thought it looked peaceful!

Hoa Lo Prison
aka The Hanoi Hilton, as nicknamed by the American's during the war