After breakfast this morning we finished packing and checked out. We had a whole day to kill before our night bus so we decided to check out some of the places we still haven't seen in Hanoi.
We started by walking to where the b52 in the lake actually is! It was quite a walk but with the help of maps.me we found it pretty easily! It was quite cool to see and we walked around taking some photos before trying to find our way back out to the Main Street and the botanical gardens. The gardens were stunning and lovely to walk around looking at the lake, trees and sculptures everywhere. We had now planned to visit Ho Chi Minhs mausoleum and house, but these both closed by 11am on the days they were open so we missed out on that. We headed instead to the Ho Chi Minh museum, but this was closed for lunch which didn't finish for another hour so instead we walked to the temple of literature. This was really just to kill time but it was actually really good to see. Originally it was the first university in Vietnam but now it is open as a museum. The grounds were really pretty and it was interesting to see all these stone signs set in stone turtles which celebrate the exams taken during its opening period between 1400 and 1700.
After this we headed back towards the old quarter by walking around the lake. It was about 3pm now so we decided to visit Jade Island, which is across a bridge in the middle of the lake. You got a great view of the buildings around the lake from here and you could also see a preserved giant turtle, one of the few they have found in the lake. Me and Shane were also lucky enough to see a couple of little turtles in the water!
We grabbed a bit of food to see us through tonight and at 5pm we headed back to the hotel to wait for our bus. Our transfer arrived just after 6pm and we said goodbye to the lovely guy on reception who had helped us out since getting here. A short and cramped minibus drive and we were dropped off at the side of the road for our bus to Hue. Inside is three rows of really narrow bunk bed type seats! They actually aren't too uncomfortable, although we may change our minds in 10 hours time! We are on here now until around 10am tomorrow morning ready to start making our way down Vietnam. I'm glad we spent a bit longer in Hanoi, to see everything and have a bit of a chill to adjust to a new country. We have loved and hated it here! Although we really liked the city we are both ready to go somewhere a bit quieter and with less chance of being run over!