Day 66 Friday 13th November 2009

Johno says

Today we transferred from Surat Thani to Hanoi in Vietnam. Our bus to the airport was fresh from the 1950's with seats only fit for a 30 minute journey. Our Friday the 13th flights to Bangkok and onwards to Hanoi was trouble free and pleasant as we arrived in Hanoi for 8pm. We quickly realised that your 30,000 times table learned at School would come in handy as there are 30,000 Vietnamese Dong to the pound, so our local cash withdrawal at the airport was in its millions!! Once in our 250,000 dong airport taxi we were welcomed to the chaos and traffic known as Hanoi… the driver seemed to be continuously using his horn warning others of his existence on the road, the only problem was that everyone else was doing the same so it really didn't matter!! It really seemed like Nairobi part two!! We were then in a huge traffic jam which was caused by road works - our driver knowing absolutely no English started to make some interesting noises of disappointment!! Mmmmm uuuhh mmmm…! Haha. At last we arrived at the hotel that our nine year old lonely planet guide recommended and yes, it was fully booked so a hotel worker recommended their sister hotel around the corner - all seemed very friendly with another worker getting in our taxi to escort us to the other hotel. Once settled we decided to take a late night twenty minute stroll around the streets of Hanoi, it was very dark as there were very little street lamps and few tourists about so already we could see that Vietnam was a far shout from Thailand as it was far less developed and less set up for tourists. Families and friends were gathering on the pavements and interestingly some were also having dinner there at the same time! A few small fires were also light on the pavement which I assume was cooking the food! Having our first taste of Vietnam we headed home to our hotel!!

Day 67 Saturday 14th November 2009
Stacey says
Woke up this morning, ready to explore Hanoi. We had our breakfast, which was some tangerines, eggs and a whole French stick each! (Vietnam showing the French influence) Have missed crusty bread. So we stepped out of the hotel, and it was instantly manic. Motorbikes flying everywhere, from all directions. The pavements are obstructed by cooking stalls and parked motorbikes. You cannot actually walk on the pavement. So you have no choice but to walk along the side of the road with them! I was jammed between two at one point, praying neither would flatten my toes! They are constantly beeping the horns. Shoe boys were insistent on polishing Steve's sandals, the woman wanted me to buy their bags and bracelets, we did however buy a Vietnam guide book from a walking book seller. We took a break by the peaceful Hoan Kiem Lake for a breather and to see what to do in Hanoi. We followed a walking tour in our book, which guided us through some important temples to the country, shops specializing in shoes, ropes, mats, silk, mirrors, toys, all kinds, and some non-touristy street markets where they sell food in massive produce including fresh herbs, live and dried fish which were jumping out of the water bowls, frogs - which we watched get killed with a thud over the head and placed into the scales for sale. We stopped along a quiet local street with a strip of cafes and restaurants. We had a very tasty dinner in Little Hanoi, and all for under a fiver. We then went to continue with the walk, but it was getting a bit hard work watching out for the motorbikes, so we walked back to the hotel to seek refuge for a bit! We did have a night sleeper train to catch this evening, so we stacked up on some travel food and were then picked up to head for the station. We got shown to our old fashioned looking train walking across the train tracks. Inside, we found our room, it was a wooden cabin with 4 beds, Steve took top bunk. We were sharing with 2 local woman. One was keen to talk to us and the other was very moody! It was pretty comfortable, although I did find it difficult to get a good nights sleep!