48 hours in Hanoi

I'd been forewarned about the craziness awaiting me in Hanoi but I arrived before rush hour kicked off so saw it for the first time eerily quiet. Joggers padded along the pavements and motorbike taxis patiently waited for the tourists to arrive. I checked in to my hostel, had a much needed shower and bumped into a chatty old guy by the name of Larry who invited me along on a little group outing to the citadel. Knowing my time in Hanoi would be brief I decided to work through the sleepiness and join him. There were 3 others with Larry including a lovely English boy from Brighton who kept me laughing all day. We grabbed a Vietnamese "fusion breakfast", hello chicken kebab! And then made a pretty successful go at navigating the bus system of Hanoi. One the 2 buses we met pretty interesting conductors - one constantly shushed us whilst the other slapped all who got in his way. By mid morning we reached our destination.

The citadel was a series of pagodas and buildings dating back 2000 years. We looped round the main ones taking in beautiful sights and yummy beef and ginger noodle soup before heading back to the centre. In the afternoon I wandered the city before taking decisive action and booking not only a train to Hoi-An for the next evening but a flight out of Vietnam and into Singapore! With that in mind I made the most of my little time left, going out for a meal with a big group from the hostel and then on for 20 pence beers! This was my first beer corner experience and I loved it, the beer (which is made from rice) was admittedly a little warm but it went down easily enough. The atmosphere is almost as good as the cheap cheap prices with groups of friends (locals and tourists alike) crouched on tiny stools amongst the hustle and bustle of Hanoi's streets.

The next day I made it my mission to get lost, not such a hard task but always interesting. I walked for hours seeing the most amazing things; women carrying huge shoulder baskets of fruit crossing 10 lanes of traffic, exercise classes outside the main cathedral and the infamous spit roast dog, teeth included! It left me cursing the less than reliable Asian batteries in my camera! In the evening I tried my hand at a few new card games, enjoyed the hostel's free beer and had high hopes that it might even help me sleep on the train.

A motorbike taxi took me to the station and it was definitely more fun being in the middle of the traffic than just watching it from the pavement. Whilst waiting I met a lovely Chinese man who introduced himself by showing me a picture of myself on his phone followed by his passport, amused and a little unsure of what to do I showed him mine. He seemed to enjoy this and gave me a handful of satsumas before returning to his seat. The train boarded early and I found myself the only Westerner who'd scrimped and opted for a seat rather than a bed for the 19 hour journey to Hoi-An. It paid off, I was fed wafers and eggs with sugar from the locals, and they found great delight in some of the cheesier songs in my collection. By the time I arrived in Hoi-An I'd shook of the sleepiness and was ready to shop.

These photos sum it up better than I ever could...