We ended up having a pretty civilised night for Shane's birthday. We had a few drinks at a nearby hostel where we met a couple of people then headed off for some food and drinks. Everything in Hanoi closes around 12pm, and we couldn't be bothered to find the ones that stay open so headed back earlier than we had expected.
This meant we were able to get up and do some cultural things today! We started by going to hunt down the lake where a b52 had crashed during the war and had been left there. We found something called the b52 museum which had an empty lake next to it, so we assumed the wreck was one of the ones of display at the museum. A bit of research later on means we now know the actual lake with the b52 was just around the corner from the museum! We might go back and see if we can find it at some point before we leave Hanoi.
The actual b52 museum was closed for lunch when we arrived so we just looked at the tanks and planes on display outside before heading off to find the prison. On our way we bumped int Collette and Ross who we had met last night and a couple of there friends. They were also heading to the prison so we went together. The prison was originally built by the French to hold Vietnamese patriots and later used to hold US prisoners of war. It was interesting but not as hard hitting as visiting the prison in Cambodia, it didn't feel very authentic but did give you quite a bit of information.
After this we went our separate ways and we went to the military museum. This was literally just full of different weapons and transport, which meant Shane was in his element. By this point we had walked miles and were exhausted! So we headed back to the hotel where we chilled out and watched a couple of films.
Eventually we headed out to grab some food, starting off by finding what is known as shoe street! It is literally a street lined with shoe shops, we had a good look but didn't end up buying anything. We made our way to beer corner, which sells the cheapest beer in Vietnam, which is about 13p! We had some food and went for a wander around the night market. This was crazy busy, as was everywhere! Once we had got frustrated with all the people we finally headed back to get some sleep.