Hanoi

Started raining as I left the hotel on Saturday and didn’t let up until I got to Hanoi. The motorway to the airport was jam packed so thinking the rain had been the cause of an accident or two. The driver eventually left the motorway and went through the suburbs for the last 5km. Take well over an hour in total. Way too long for 9am on Saturday morning. Check in system was down at the airport so that added to the delays.

Immigration at Hanoi was a breeze , no forms to fill in as visa exempt for 15 days. At first glance Vietnam is very different to Thailand, even the trees look different. Lots of traffic but not as dense as Bangkok. Biggest difference is that everybody in Vietnam seems to have their own set of road rules !! There were people cutting across three lanes of traffic to do u turns, motor bikes going the wrong way and using the pavement and lots of horn blowing. Manic but seems to work.

Didn’t do much on Saturday as feeling drained from walking in the Bangkok heat. Staying at the Hanoi Pearl hotel, nice place, staff all very friendly and polite and keen to practice English.

Beer is very cheap, even in the mini bar at the hotel. Can of local beer is half the cost of a bottle of Evian. 25000 is about 80 pence.In local bars beer is anywhere from between 20 pence to 50 pence.

This is 3 million viet dong, about £96. Should last a few days.

Room is nice and supposed to have a balcony but it is not a balcony !! It is actually an internal space between walls, weird, but as it is the back of the hotel it is very quiet.

The bathroom is one of those with a window to the bed space…. not really understanding that.