We rendezvoused with the travel agent who has made our bookings in Vietnam and (some in) Lao to pay him and arrange for day trip tomorrow to Tam Coc which is the land version of Halong Bay. Promenades south to what is known as the French quarter, location of the Hanoi Opera, Metropole hotel etc. Outside the Metropole is "the" place for local brides to have their pictures taken on the big day and it's a laugh to watch them striking their adoring poses. In between picture shoots they sit on the little sidewalk stools with warm jackets over their wedding dresses and have a fag or chat on their mobiles, sometimes even zooming off on an errand on the back of a motor bike still in their long dresses. As it was mid morning we decided to have a coffee at the legendary Sofitel and were charged an exorbitantly large sum of money. Yikes, it cost as much as dinner last night! We got our money's worth though wandering through and reading up on a history display of the hotel. Visited some more art galleries to look at lacquer paintings which we really like. Liked one in particular but it's large and would have to be shipped home. Also fell for a cute water puppet figure. Our accumulation of "small" purchases now require us to buy another suitcase!