Hanoi and The Perfume Pergoda. (26/1 to 5/2) Arrived here on the 27th of January from a freezing China. The border crossing was straightforward. Just filled in a few doc\'s hoped across nomans land and it was Good Morning Vitnam. After spending half an hour negotiating for a taxi in the border town of Dong Dang, we thought we had struck a superb deal, US$4 each for six of us for the 3 hour journey to Hanoi in a smart 11 seater Mercedes Minibus. Plenty of space for a 3 hour sleep. Unfortunately before leaving Long San we spent 40 minutes cruising around the town lookin for extra passengers and their cargo, eventually leaving hanoi with 19 people crammed on board with about 20 big boxes of energizer batteries and 1 tree on the roof. The less than comfortable journey was even more memorable when a was splattered by some flying sick from another passenger, as she tried to sent it out the window. On arrival in Hanoi we headed for the old quarter, through the hoards of motorcycles that roam the streets, footpaths and markets. Eventually we found a nice hotel for just $2.50 each a night. In the evening we had meal in a restaurant for about 4 quid total for 3 of us, followed by a glass of beer in a roadside cafe, where u literally sit on a stool in the road for about 10p. The following day was the eve of the TET festival, the big holiday in Vietnam. During the day we wandered around and booked a few excursions for the coming days. In the evening we headed down to the lake to soak up the atmosphere ready for the big fireworks display at midnight. There were thousands of people on the streets and a few dog statues ready to celebrate the new year. We found our spot right on the lake front an hour and a half before only to find we were under a tree so couldnt see anything. Managed to see some of the fireworks eventually though. On the 1st day of TET, Hanoi was empty so we headed off on an excursion to the Perfume Pergoda. After a two hour bus drive we hoped aboard a less than stable canoe carrying 12 people for an hour long cruise down river to perfume mountain. An hours walk up the hillside through forests eventually brought us to a very impressive Buddhist temple in a cave at the top. The walk back down was followed by lunch before a visit to a Buddhist monastry. Then we headed back along the river and back to Hanoi.