We arrived at Noi Bai Airport at Hanoi and thankfully we had arranged a car from the hotel to pick us up. Our introduction to the Vietnamese road rules was very interesting to say the least, our driver was fantastic and we arrived safely at our hotel. Once settled in, Mark came back to the hotel to show us where him, Pearl and Taylor were chilling out having a couple of cold drinks. After catching up, we then went in search of The Kangaroo Bar to sort out the tours that we had booked prior to arriving. Max the owner of the Kangaroo Bar wasn't there, so after settling for more drinks, we arrived back, met Max and got the tours all settled.
The roads and pathways are just covered in either vehicles, motorbikes, food, wares being sold, people everywhere, horns blasting is a normal thing over here. You need eyes in the back of your head. The weather is hot and very humid.
We spent the second day exploring the area on foot and then went to the Hoa Lo Prison. In the evening we met up with Max again, who took us all to the Hanoi Railway Station for our overnight train trip to SAPA, our first tour in Vietnam.