The first thing that we noticed when we left the airport was he traffic. People were crazy! Scooter is the main form of transport in Vietnam….pretty much everyone has one and apparently the nicer your scooter the more attractive you appear to the opposite sex! It wasn’t just that there were a lot of scooters though, they were weaving in and out of the cars, going the wrong way down the road, there were whole families of 4 on one scooter with no helmets, using mobile phones and some people who looked like they were carrying all their worldly possessions with them. Beep beep beeeep! It was very different to KL but we liked it.
I think he could have got a few more pots on…
We arrived thankfully in one piece at our lovely little boutique hotel, Hanoi Elegance Diamond, where we were warmly met with a cup of tea & cold towel. We were abolutely knackered so we headed up to our room for a snooze and then went out for a wander. There was a big lake a few minutes down the road so we strolled round there whilst having a peek in the many little shops, restaurants and bars that lined the streets. The first challenge that met us was crossing the road! After waiting for a few minutes at a zebra crossing we soon realised that no one was going to stop. We decided that the way to do it was to let the cars & buses go past then walk out and the scooters would steer around us. A couple of minutes later and we were feeling smug with ourselves at the other side. We were feeling a bit peckish by the time we had walked around the lake so we found a small place selling street food & sat down for a bowl of pho (noodle soup) and a drink. It was cheap & very yummy – winner.
Adam was happy the beer was 30p
We walked back to the hotel and went to the spa where Adam had a energy balance massage and I had a refreshing facial. I was later told by Adam that he found it hard to relax with the sound of me snoring next to him. Oops!
We had booked a meal at the restaurant in our hotel after reading great reviews on tripadvisor and sat by the window on the top floor looking out over the city. Vietnamese food is fab – it’s tasty, there’s a lot of it and it’s pretty cheap.
Din dins!
The girl in the spa had told us there was a night market so we went to check it out. It was so busy and the stalls went on for ages. I had forgotten to bring my watch away so I found a replica for £2 – bargain. We wandered down the street looking at all the different stalls then headed back to the hotel to bed as we had an early start the next day.
Night market