Freezing Hanoi!

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We got to Hanoi on the night bus from Hoi An and oh my god it was so cold! The bus was freezing and it just got colder the further north we got! And yep Hanoi was really cold and we really don't have any winter stuff and all the shops were closed because of Tet (new year).

We found a hotel with a heater, a bit pricier but worth it. We did a lot of sitting by that heater! On the first day we wondered around the old quarter where we were staying which are really old narrow streets and really charming. It seemed much less hectic than Saigon but then we realised that everything is closed due to Tet and everyone is inside with their families celebrating. It was nice to be able to cross the roads without fearing for your life! There is a lovely lake near the old quarter which is lovely to walk around too. We did a lot of walking to cafes to warm oursleves up with rum and hot chocolates!

On the second day we did some cultural stuff (and I kept moaning about the cold!), we went to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology which was interesting. Lots of information about ethnic minorities and tribes in Vietnam. We also got our first cyclo in Vietnam which was fun and cold (moan moan....) and we went to the Temple of Literature which was a beautiful building.

The next day we went on a 2 day tour to Halong Bay with as many layers on as we had, basically every item of clothing! We had opted for the overnight stay at a hotel rather than on the boat, warmer I'm sure. It took about 3 hours on the bus to get to Halong City where we got on the boat and were happy to see that you could sit inside! We had a seafood lunch when we got on and headed around the bay. Ahhhh it was stunning in Halong Bay, really beautiful. We got off at stops to see the caves and warmed ourselves up enough to have an ice cream (never too cold for that!). The caves were dead pretty. Then back on the boat and to our hotel. We met some lovely people on the trip (and I got lent a pair of gloves!) and all had dinner at the hotel. The next day we were back on the boat and went round the bay some more and got into smaller boats to explore the caves and saw a school on the sea (so small!). Then it was back on the bus to go back. It was wonderful but it would have have been super wonderful in the sunshine sunbathing on the decks. I will definitely go back in the summertime.

With our time in Hanoi we had planned to go to Sappa which is further up north and in the mountains but we didn't really have the gear for it so we spent the last couple of days in Hanoi mainly in cafes and walking around. We hung out with the guys from our Halong Bay trip and went to see the famous water puppet show which was funny!

Really we couldn't wait to get to North Thailand for some sunshine and too see our parents!

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