So I have been upgraded to official STA Explorer and now I really am a celebrity (well, not really but the nearest I've got to stardom since the attention I got in China). They think I am "young, fit and adventurous" as that is what they're calling me. There is also a fairly detailed description of me and I was really freaked out for a while thinking they had spies following me around or something, until I remembered I had told them all this information myself (but it was a few weeks ago and I was in England so I can be excused!) Apparently my writing is "engaging" and "funny" which I'm still not really seeing but people like it so it's all good.

So I am still in Hanoi, feeling quite sorry for myself and shuffling between my bed, the tv room and reception. Luckily I was in the same building as the tv room so I spent the first couple of days of illness watching films which I actually secretly enjoyed. I have taught the security guard a new English word as he asked why I was lolling around on the sofa with my duvet in the middle of the day so he can now say "sick". Unfortunately this means whenever he sees me he points and says "sick!" I also spent this time telling people how to open the door (there is a big button that says "exit" next to the door which you need to press to unlock it. It really is very simple) and giving general advice to new arrivals - "don't swallow seawater". Hm, maybe the people who can't open the door aren't so stupid after all.

I am feeling better now though and have ventured out the past couple of days. I'm getting used to Hanoi. It's very noisy. Everywhere is "beep beep beep beep beep" and "hello motorbike" and "madam, you want buy x?" Actually, I should be offended at being called "madam", surely I'm a madamoiselle still?

Hanoi is pretty small, which is good as you can walk to most places (but try telling the motorbike taxis that) and really quite dirty. The most interesting part is the Old Quarter which is, well, old, and full of a labyrinth of streets each of which sells a different type of commodity. The street names are actually direct translations of what you could buy on the street in "old" times, so they're "meat street", "tinware street", "spice street" etc (in Vietnamese obviously). Now the names don't necessarily match up but they still sell the same thing all along the street and each one is different, so you can wander round "towel street", "fake flower street", "sweet street" and my favourite "garish decoration street". Hideous. Actually, my real favourite was one my friend nicknamed "traditional street" which sells food.

Food shopping in Vietnam is very different to going to a supermarket. Everything is sold on the street (literally) and everything is fresh. This is very nice when it's fruit and vegetables but not so nice when it's meat. Fresh is fresh. Fish are swimming round in tubs, you select the one you want and it gets killed and chopped up in front of you. Same goes for chickens. Larger meat arrives as pork instead of pig but there's still some fairly serious butchery going on. Yesterday I had to dodge a man hacking up a pig, a woman carrying some part of a chicken and the usual motorbike in the middle of a market. It's really good as you see where the food comes from and you know exactly what you're getting. Gordon Ramsey would approve. You can buy frogs, crabs, very very giant prawns, I'm pretty sure I saw maggots, eels, and very fluffy white rabbits, all alive. It's quite sad. Maybe Gordon wouldn't approve.

Hanoi has a big lake in the middle which apparently has a giant tortoise living in it. I am skeptical, mainly because surely it would drown? It is definately a tortoise and not a turtle. A French couple I met were positive they'd seen it so who knows. However, the French couple also do a lot of drugs (apparently this is normal in France. And Australia) so I am again skeptical.

Today I went on a motorbike with my French friend (who doesn't do drugs. I think) to Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. Going on the motorbike was cool and if you think that is dangerous come here and compare it to walking because the motorbike is far safer! However I broke my encouraging men rule again because I put my arms around my guy (I was worried about falling off!) and they started joking I was his girlfriend :) It was kind of fun and has made me quite want a motorbike now. Or at least a scooter. The mausoleum was not terribly exciting, it's another of those touristy sites I'm trying to avoid, but I figured I should see a dead important person as I'd missed Lenin, Stalin and Mao. However we made friends with a Vietnamese couple who wanted to practise their English who were very sweet.

I haven't been doing much else really apart from sleeping lots and attempting to eat. I've also almost finished Anna Karenina :) Tonight though I'm planning on going to the Water Puppets show at the theatre. Apparently this is a famous art form in Vietnam and as it's puppets I hope I'll be able to follow the story. I'll let you know what it's like. Im leaving tomorrow with a couple of American girls to go to Hue on the bus (sleeper again, and Vietnamese people are as small as Chinese so not a lot of room I expect!) Oh and I now have a fear of being robbed on public transport as I've heard a lot of scare stories!