Hanoi

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We booked ourselves on the 9am bus from Vang Vieng to Vientiane, in order to make our flight to Hanoi, which would leave at 2pm. Unfortunately, we had an absolute joker of a bus driver, who decided he would drive around Vang Vieng for an hour before actually leaving it, just stopping on the outskirts at around 9:50 to pick up a woman who was thrilled to have 'caught the 10 o'clock bus'. we were not impressed. we arrived in vientiane at 1:10, and despairingly hopped in a tuk-tuk to take us to the airport in vain, we thought. however, when we got there at 1:20 and asked to check in, no one batted an eyelid, and we were through to the gate by 1:45 without the slightest hiccup. magical.
we arrived in hanoi and got a moped taxi to hanoi backpackers hostel, where we got an absolutely lovely, if slightly over-budget room. we decided that the fact that we were only staying for one night and the free breakfast the hostel provided (which did, admittedly, only consist of some bread and some rather intriguing jam) justified the expenditure.
the next day, we had a look round hanoi, which is much nicer than bangkok. it's definitely got a sort of french-colonial feel to it and feels a bit more upmarket. that said, it's still got the stress-factor of a large asian city, and the traffic is MENTAL. i have never seen so many mopeds in my life. we resisted the urge to try the 'street food', and were rather smug, as some people we met later told us they had done so but sincerely regretted it, as they'd turned the corner and come face-to-face with a dog, roasting on a spit. delish.
we went to ho chi minh's mausoleum, which was pretty impressive, and wanted to go in and see his body, but unfortunately arrived 2 minutes before closing time.

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