After months of planning (and about two weeks of absolute panic!) I've finally made my way into the big wide world! Between leaving Heathrow and landing in Hanoi I over-nighted in Bangkok. The transfer from Hanoi Airport to the hostel took about an hour, during which time I was able to see what the real Vietnam. I was slightly taken aback by the living conditions of the rural population. I knew that Vietnam was quite a poor nation, but I wasn't expecting to see what I did. Outside of Hanoi, pretty much all of the housing seemed to be built from corrugated metal, and were literally the size of shacks. Another thing that immediately struck when I first entered Vietnam is the pollution, not only the air quality, but also the litter, there is trash everywhere!

There was no conversation between the driver and myself, so he decided to liven the atmosphere by putting some music on, which I didn't have a problem with, until I discovered who it was…..Westlife! (Now I'm starting to think that no matter where you go in the world you cannot escape bad boybands!) However, I think through some kind of divine intervention the CD player didn't work which meant that I didn't have to endure them!

Upon arriving at the hostel I was offered a coffee and a baguette with jam and butter, while my room was cleaned. This as it turns out is the free 'breakfast', however I was in no position to complain as it was the first food I'd had since being on the flight. I also used this as an opportunity to start a conversation with some Aussies who were sitting at a table. At this point I was quite desperate to talk to anyone, as I hadn't had a proper conversation for about two days (my only company was literally a book and a couple of movies I watched on the flight!). The guys were really nice and told me about Happy Hour (where all beer is free!!) and said I should come along.

I used some of the day to have a wander about the Old Quarter of Hanoi (where the hostel is situated). I remember being told that Hanoi was a 'crazy place', and to be honest that description is pretty much spot on! There are motorbikes everywhere! It did take a bit of a while getting used to and some roads can be a bit treacherous, but I found that the best way to cross the road is to throw away the Green Cross Code, walk straight into the middle of the road and let everything avoid you! The streets are packed full of shops and stalls selling pretty much anything you can imagine. People even come up to you asking you to buy stuff from them (usually books), or offer you motorcycle rides to wherever you want to go (or even to clean your shoes!). I didn't spend too long wandering though as I was quite tired (I had been up at 2 am in order get my flight) and I wanted to make sure I was awake for Happy Hour!!

The following day I decided that I wanted to properly explore the Old Quarter. One of the guys I was sharing a dorm with suggested that I take the walking tour of the Old Quarter, and even lent me his Lonely Planet guide. I started my tour by circumnavigating Hoan Kiem Lake (which the Old Quarter is based around) and making my way into Ngoc Son Temple located in its middle. The Temple was actually really serene, which came as quite a surprise to me because it could barely have been more 100m away from the hustle and bustle of the Hanoi traffic. There is also one other island on the other side of the Lake which housed Turtle Tower (however this one was inaccessible). Legend has it that a turtle handed the Emperor a magical sword that was used to defeat the Ming Dynasty. The Temple was built in the 18th Century, telling this story.

I continued the walking tour around Hanoi's Old Quarter, by heading towards the Bac Ma Temple. Unfortunately, I copied out the map wrong, and ended up getting myself really lost down the narrow streets of Hanoi and ended up going elsewhere! This wasn't a problem for me as I used this opportunity to have a wander round the backstreets of Hanoi, having a look at all sorts of shops, seeing if there was anything to spend my Dong. I did manage to get back on the walking tour eventually and headed to the final place on the tour, St. Joseph's Cathedral. When I got there it was closed, but judging by the outside of the building it was quite magnificent and something I maybe should have visited when open.

The following day I decided to try to visit the Bac Ma Temple again. I had made sure that I had marked its location correctly on the map. However, I overslept a bit and by the time I got there it was closed for lunch. Rather than hang around, I opted to head towards the Military Museum. This is something that I had wanted to visit since arriving in Hanoi and made sure I that I didn't miss out. Unfortunately this meant that I had to walk in the opposite direction to the Temple to the outskirts of the Old Quarter. However the walk (and the negotiation of the heavy traffic!) was completely worth it. Upon arriving there I was instructed to put my backpack in a locker and pay a 20,000 VND entrance fee. There were so many historical relics and artefacts on display. A small section of the Museum was devoted to historical Emperors pre-twentieth century, but most of it was dedicated to the Indochina War with the French during the 1950s and the war with the Americans. There were an unbelievable amount of vehicles - ranging from fighter planes, tanks, helicopters and Jeeps - and artillery - mainly cannons and howitzers - caught from the French and Americans on show. There were also rooms allotted to Ho Chi Minh and the campaigns against the Americans (not only from within Northern Vietnam, but protests worldwide). It was also quite an interesting insight into how the Vietnamese view the War and how they regard the 'American Aggressors' (even though the Museum did not take a neutral stance towards the events.

Visiting the Museum was the most interesting experience I'd had, but tomorrow I would be going to Halong Bay, something I'd been looking forward to for a long time.