Hanoi

I don’t remember the greatest amount of what we did after getting back from Sapa, but i know the first thing we did was check back in. Libby and Polly were excited to see if their visa extension was confirmed (which it was) Getting up to my room there was a Chinese student who didn’t speak any English and none of the other beds had been taken, i chose the bottom bunk which offered a curtain i could pull around the entire bed. The balcony was fairly nice with a small candlelit temple type thing and a view of the street. I spent a while in my room having a sort through my stuff – separating all my dirty clothes and trainers from all my clean stuff, i had a few cigs and a shower before heading into Libbys room and chilling on her balcony, they were both really inspiring to be around for the first part of my travels as they had been a fair few places and still had many more to go. We decided we’d have a walk around and find a vegan place to grab some decent lunch/dinner. We stopped in a few shops to grab some water and generally have a look around before stopping in Minh Chay Vegan Restaurant where i had raised tempeh with green banana curry and veg spring rolls, which were delicious.

After lunch we headed out to buy some clothes and whatever tickled our fancy, i enjoyed walking around and looking at the French architecture and the way the Vietnamese lived, hundreds of bikes all trying to squeeze down the same road, women would carry their new born babies on the back of the peds with no helmet. I guess they knew what they were doing! On the way back to the hostel i brought a Vietnamese straw hat which they all seemed to wear out there but they literally kept all the sun off ya face and shoulders, worked a dream in that heat!

We stopped in the same small cafe just around the corner from City Backpackers as we did a couple nights before, we had G&Ts and another famous baguette before i headed across the road (still hadnt learnt how to do this so took me quite some time). I headed back to the hostel where i seemed to end up booking everything i did in Hanoi, i wanted to find out prices of Halong Bay boat trip and if i could leave the following day, i didnt realise you had to pre-book 2 days before so i quickly got that sorted and arranged a bus from Hanoi to Hue for the night i got back. That night we were really tired but we followed through with a few more drinks after another shower (you wouldn’t believe how sweaty this city really was) every night the hostel would offer free beer from 7pm onwards so we attended this and had a few conversations with other travellers. The beer was rank!

The next morning we met up for breakfast in the hostel which they served free until 10am, i had banana pancakes. This was somehow the first and only time i had real banana pancakes with them completely cooked in the batter, they were impeccable! This day it rained almost all day on and off, but mainly on! It absolutely chucked it down to say the least so i spent alot of today chilling on the balcony just taking in the surrounding street and reflecting on my trip so far, after all Sapa really showed me how great i had it and how lucky i was to meet such inspiring people along the way. Opposite my balcony the buildings were beautifully authentic with huge French doors and windows just holding onto one hinge, the street below was always busy with women selling fruit off of baskets hung from their shoulder to the racket of bikes beeping their way through the crowd.

We met back up downstairs for some beers and a cig before heading back to the same cute cafe with the amazing baguettes to discuss our plans for the night as i’d be leaving them the following morning. This was where i had learnt it was against Vietnamese law to have tables and chairs from the cafe on the street walk. They all had to be inside the cafes and restaurants or the police were to discard of them on the back of their lorries, we were chilling having our beers when we witnessed a domino effect from down the street of staff collecting the furniture asking anyone sat to come inside. The police truck came slowly down the street and you could see piles of chairs that had been taken along the way.

We decided that night we would go to Hanoi’s night market so we headed back to the hostel to get changed; i packed my things for the following day as i was worried id wake late with the bus leaving at 7:45am. We headed over to taco king for some snacks before the market where we had a right laugh, from what i remember i only had a beer, my stomach shrunk even in the first couple of days; lack of protein from not eating meat. We headed into the city and took a stroll around the night markets, i was always surprised at how early it became dark in Vietnam, maybe around half 6. After having a gander we ended up at Mcdonalds for abit of normality, they offered the weirdest of foods. We had a walk around the Hoan Kiem lake, the bridge was completely lit up almost looking like it was glowing in the dark, we passed street dancers and locals selling sunglasses and wallets before heading back to the hostel where we had a cigarette and said our goodbyes. While walking through the crowds a guy from, I think Japan stopped us and asked if he could practice his English. In the morning i was up early as anything to grab a shower and get a free breakfast while i could, i popped over the road, buying cigs on the way and waited for my bus to Halong Bay. I was in shock horror when a Vietnamese man called me onto the back of his ped after looking at my ticket to take me to the bus, id promised my dad just days before i wouldn’t go near one (unfortunately this promise couldn’t be kept) he took me around the corner with my rucksack being held by his left ankle before throwing it onto the sleeper bus. I always tried to grab a bed close to the toilet as i seemed to drink litres and litres of water a day. And that was it, i set off for Halong.