Doing our bit for Culcher.

Hanoi has a quite different flavour to Hoi An, in spite of being an anagram. The city is as busy as Ho Chi Minh City, with as many scooters and mopeds, but is grubby and unkempt off the main roads. Last night we ventured as far as the nearest ATM, to withdraw the maximum 2 million Dong ( roughly £56) but the roads were so difficult to cross, it was drizzling, dark and smelly so we scuttled back to the hotel and ate in their restaurant.

This morning we were collected for a visit to the Tran Quoc pagoda on West Lake. Warned to dress modestly, we made sure arms and legs were fully covered. This, combined with the drizzle and heat, about 32C, ensured we stayed damp all day.

The pagoda is beautiful and calm, in contrast to the back streets where people are cooking, quarrelling and selling, selling anything and everything. Around a corner we saw the remains of Senator John McCain's B52 in a local lake. There's a plaque commemorating the skill of the anti- aircraft battery which shot him down in 1968. He was a prisoner of war for five years but eventually returned as Ambassador.

Next stop Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. A huge square with beautiful gardens surrounds the imposing building and the queue moved quickly, two by two, in silence, past his body. Guarded at all times by 4 soldiers with fixed bayonets, it was impressive. After, we saw the houses where he lived a simple life, having chosen not to use the grand French Colonial house which he said was too big and ostentatious.

After visiting the Temple of Literature (Vietnam's first University) founded in the 9th century, we visited the Ethnology Museum to see the traditional buildings of some of the the 54 ethnic minority peoples. It was very interesting to go inside these, which have been moved here and furnished in typical style. Each one had a student or two acting out the lifestyle complete with iPad or PC and phone.

Lunch was Vietnamese fast food, 'Pho', consisting of a bowl of soup with meat and noodles, tasty. Then we were off to Hoa Lo prison, scene of torture by the French Colonial regime against political prisoners and later known to US pilots as the 'Hanoi Hilton'. We watched some films about the privileges granted to the pilots, some of whom were there for 5 years before their release in 1973.

We then climbed into a 'cyclo', a bicycle rickshaw pedalled by an elderly man. I felt very guilty as I must weigh at least twice as much as him, and was also uncomfortably aware that if the tour operators didn't send them fat Northern Europeans they wouldn't eat. Being pedalled into the path of oncoming traffic wasn't pleasant, but we dutifully took rubbish photos each time the driver pointed out a 'sight' then tipped them handsomely with relief as we were freed in time for the Water Puppet show.

The Water Puppet show was good fun. The puppeteers are waist deep behind a curtain to operate the puppets on long bamboo sticks. Duelling dragons with fireworks in their mouths, ducks with ducklings evading a fox and the obligatory clown figure were accompanied by live music on traditional instruments.

After dinner today we were off to the railway station for the sleeper train to Lao Cai in the Highlands.