We've just come to the end of a full week in Hanoi. Staying in Street Backpackers we were made to feel like family -invited out to the night markets, snake farms and drinks with the owner, her husband and the other guests. Great company, free breakfast and free beer all for a tiny $4 a night!

Hanoi has a buzzing atmosphere. From the early hours until late at night, the streets swarm with thousands of motorbikes, often with five or even six people aboard. Our hostel was located just outside of the Old Quarter looking on to St Joseph's Cathedral.

There are so many beautiful buildings here but we had to remind ourselves to keep looking up not to miss them as we were constantly afraid our feet may be run over by the motorbikes! (because of course here the pavements aren't used for pedestrians, but used as car parks for the motorbikes!)

We spent a lot of time dodging traffic and elbowing our way through overcrowded streets! its quite easy to get lost here down the many side alleys. We also managed to visit a number of the museums, parks and lake. We spent a lot of time around the lake, this was the place where all the locals seemed to gather to get away from the crazy traffic maybe? Here we watched locals partaking in aerobics, dance lessons, fishing, socialising, roller blading, selling their produce and more. On different occasions we were asked to partake in a short documentary and were filmed as Ash was interviewed, giving his opinion on whether or not Facebook is good for Vietnam! Another time we were approached by a group of students wanting to practice their English! Spent some time with them and have stayed in touch since. We must look like the friendly type!

Another city that we love! The museums mostly related on the American War as well as the Northern tribes here were extremely interesting and thought provoking. Tried plenty of local dishes and street food, watched the famous water puppet show and we were lucky enough to spend our 4 year anniversary together in this exciting city.

Our Chinese visa's finally arrived today so we leave for Sapa tonight (our last stop in Vietnam) before we arrive in China!