From capital to another capital - Hanoi
This city is crazy central and a lot different to Vientiane! The amount of motorbikes is ridiculous and I noticed here that most of them are wearing helmets unlike other cities. Not sure if this is a good or bad sign. It has similarities to Bangkok but I would say it is a bit cleaner and nicer. There is a lovely lake in the middle which we walked around. The first night we got there and checked in to our hostel called Hanoi Rocks which I would definitely recommend for young people. We went straight out to the shops and markets in the hunt for some balloons ready for Natalie's arrival. Found some eventually, along with 3 party hats for us to wear. The happy hour had started at the hostel after that, with free beer so we stayed until it was over then headed out for some food. We found it difficult to find a restaurant as it's mostly street food or eateries with plastic chairs on the side of the street which we just wasn't feeling! We settled in a nice little place where I tried a local Vietnamese dish which had glazed pork and glass noodles with salad, and Kirstie had a burger haha.
It was time to get ready for the night. There was a bar and club in our hostel so we didn't have to go very far. We saw some funny dancing from the Vietnamese that night. Me and Kirstie played a game of pool just as the club was closing and had about 10 locals stood round watching us, trying to steel our shots but we wouldn't let them join in because they had been hogging the table all night!
The following morning we decorated Natalie's bed with party things and balloons and went to the lobby to wait for her arrival. We expected her to be there at around 9:30/10. It went like an hour past this time and we received a txt from her saying the plane was delayed and they had lost her bag it was in Ho Chi Minh City which was the other end of the country. We couldn't quite believe it we thought Nats was going to bring us good luck! Maybe not. She arrived and asked the receptionist "how far is it to Ho Chi Minh in taxi?" We were like 5 days.... haha, bless her!

We spent the day walking around the city and lake, shopping and eating ice - cream! A fruit lady dumped her hanging baskets on Kirstie's shoulders and got us to take photos then she tried to charge us. It was a good photo op though.
We went out that night and celebrated with our party hats on, ended up in a club at the other side of the city because it was the only place left open. In the taxi ride back home Natalie decided she was going to beep the horn all the way back to the hostel and the driver found her hilarious. Don't worry they beep it a million times a journey anyway :)
Xoxo