arrived at hanoi at about 9pm and the first thing that hit us was the amazing scorching heat of outdoors! we stepped through the airconned doorway into what seemed like the sun! it was hot!

we had multiple taxi drivers and companies trying to hustle us into thier car, because obviously it was the best! anyway after consulting the bible (lonely planets) we found a suitable taxi. after haggling in the scorching 28 degree heat for about 5 mins we decided to pile our bags in! the car felt alot safer than the ones we got used to in china. and the roads seemed less chaotic.

we arrived at the old quarter in Hanoi at about 10.30 and made our way to a hotel that we arranged to go to at the airport. it was down a little dark alleyway that was abit intimidating at first but we got used to it, we'd been told that Vietnam was probably the safest country we will visit. so that helped abit. after checking out our room we went off to explore. we wandered around the old quarter and found some places to eat and watch Villa for josh! we sat down and had a bottle of the worlds cheapest beer. Beer Han oi. it worked out being 40p a bottle! after a couple of the sweet nectre we wanded even further to sort out a trip to Halong Bay. after negotiating a price with our hotel we managed to secure a place on a boat that cost us 40 quid for two nights and a luxury cruise (more about that later).

the next day we went to find a museum (we were up late watching Villa so we got up late as well, which meant we were walking in midday sun!) after walking around the block twice and getting hassled by more locals offering us Tuk Tuks we eventually found the gate to an old Veitnam War Prison. this was a scary place that was nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton by the American POWs. it was quite nice to see the Vietnamese side of it and not the western persective.

after the prison we went to the Veitnamese war museum which was a bizzare experiance because they let you climb on the tanks, helicopters, guns, etc. i managed to open the back of a tank accidentally of course but no one seemed to mind, very bizzare culture. the thing that shocked us both were how proud they were of how many americans that particular weapon had killed.

after arriving back at the old quarter i got bitted to s**t by bloody mosquitos! so i think i might start using my deet! we crossed the main road that had no traffic laws what so ever, it made me think how mild roads in england actually were.after that scarry ordeal we went to a pub called Le Pub that was recommened by the bible, so we had a meal and a couple of Beer Han oi's. to celebrate because in the morning we're going to Halong Bay!