Tuesday we arrived in Hanoi at 19:30 after a long 27 hours, we were on a nice bus this time, a easy boarder crossing and we had double seats which meant a 27 hour cuddle! We luckily were on the bus with the couple from Bath that we met doing our rice field experience in Luang Prabang, Katy and Matt, so we decided to go to the same hostel. Our hostel is really cool and has double bunk beds which is a bonus! We went for some dinner, had showers and went to bed as we were all absolutely hanging.

Wednesday we were up early for a trip to the Indian embassy, Katy and Matt are also heading to India in May so had to submit their visas also. After, we did some shopping, the weather in Hanoi is cold and rainy, very miserable in flip flops so Laura bought some trainers. We stopped for a hot drink in a cafe, Ben and Matt tried egg coffee, which is exactly what it sounds, and Katy tried Vietnamese tea which is made out of sunflower seads. We went back to the hostel to dry off, warm up and do some laundry. For dinner we went for bun cha at the same place Kate and Max took us which was yummy.

Thursday, Katy and Matt were up early to visit Uncle Ho so we had a bit of a lie in then had some breakfast, when they returned around 11:30 we all went to Hoa Lo Prison used by the French colonists in Vietnam forpolitical prisoners and later by North Vietnam for prisoners of war during theVietnam War when it was sarcastically known to American prisoners of war as the "Hanoi Hilton". After, we had some lunch then wondered around the shops and booked our tickets to Cat Ba Island for next week. For dinner we treated ourselves to another Indian, again the same one we went to with Kate and Max. At 22:00 we were collected for our night bus to Sapa.