HANOID WITH THE MOPEDS

DAY 45: Hanoi

Up at 5am this morning, with the sound of some faint tooting in the background. Does this city not stop? When a sensible hour finally arrived (11am), we headed out to find some breakfast at a bakery Jen had read about, as we weren't really feeling the rice-for-breakfast vibe. We found the bakery after about 15 minutes and the food on offer was delicious - a light and airy pain au raisin and pain au chocolat to go.

We then headed to the big indoor market which was just around the corner, a bit like the ones you get in the UK. Only difference is the stalls have so much stock and about five people working in them, you can't get near the goods to look around. Also, there doesn't seem to be anyone buying anything. Instead the stalls are buying more and more stock. It's like a competition to get the most products flowing out of their stall. There doesn't seem to be any consideration for personal space or patience in Vietnam either; 'Move it or lose it'.

After that frantic start to the day we sought refuge from the smog and the mayhem in a hotel we'd booked for Friday and Saturday night (the Grand View), our main reason being to book our Halong Bay trip. The hotel is very nice, certainly worth the £10 per person, per night rate. But, there certainly isn't any view, let alone it being grand.

We booked our trip to Halong Bay for Sunday and Monday and then popped next door to the acclaimed Green Tangerine restaurant (French/Vietnamese cuisine) for some tea. It's like a little oasis off the street and we watched the world go by for an hour or so. Worth stopping by. Feeling peckish, we headed down the street (still in the Old Quarter) to the Lucky Restaurant and we were lucky to get a seat on the balcony overlooking the vibrant, flowing river of people and mopeds below.

We had a delicious later-than-usual lunch and a few drinks, all for under a fiver again, and watched the intriguing locals go about their days below. Shortly after lunch, we could smell a burning and we looked up from our seats to see smoke bellowing out from the rooftop of one of the houses. This went on for about 20 minutes, but nobody seemed too bothered, least of all the people sat in the second floor café below. Soon enough the smoke stopped, so no dramas.

We then headed back, via some shops and stalls for a few hours of rest and recoup before we went out for the evening.

Now dark, we headed back to the similar location we'd had lunch as there was a restaurant that interested us. Although disaster struck within three minutes - Jen's flip flop thong snapped. And when that goes, you are b*****ed as you can't walk. She improvised well, using the video camera safety cord, tying it under the sole and over her foot. But this now meant a quick detour to the shoe market to haggle away for some Converse All Star trainers. £7, job done.

Back on track, we found the Tamarind Café and settled down. As I was reading the menu, something didn't seem quite right, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Then it hit me. There were no meat dishes on the menu - this was a vegetarian restaurant!!! But it was ok as there was a delicious curry fried rice dish that I had, served up in a pineapple. Dinner was expensive by our now cheap expectations; £16 for the two of us (including drinks).

On the way home we realised we'd forgotten our trusty life-saving Lonely Planet book which had the map in, so it was up to Sat Nath to get us home. Although we got lost a little we soon found our abode.