A new day in Hanoi and a new treat for the eyes & ears. I started the day early and went on a walking tour of Hanoi- yes walking (this time not in flip flops!) we walked through the maze of streets lined with market stalls, street restaurants with all kinds of "meat", shops selling everything from flip flops to nails and hammers to Christmas trees. By the end of the day I managed to master crossing the street avoiding the continuous flow of motorbikes and tuk tuks. The trick is to walk very slowly into the traffic so they have time to swerve around you. If you go quickly they don't see you and bad times... So after the initial fear, by the end of the day I was a pro!
So we finished the walking tour in a secret cafe- and by secret I mean, literally walking through someones house and heading up 4 flights of stairs to a rooftop seating area with the most amazing view of Hanoi.
After a nice relaxing ice tea we head back to the hostel and head for some food- street food! It was a mix of "meat" deep fried pastries, a herby soup and leafy things- I havnt described it well but it was yummy. Despite the unknown meat- it tasted very good!
I finished the day exploring the night life of Hanoi. Firstly attending happy hour at the hostel and then heading to another hostel for yet more happy hours. Curfew in Hanoi is 11pm so after this time the parties head back street- once again through someone's living room to a secret club...!
A long night of dancing lay ahead. Then back to the hostel for a very short sleep as I had to be up bright and early for a trip to Halong bay!