Vietnam: Hanoi

I'm not sure if you were aware but I actually didn't go straight from Laos to Vietnam.  I was a wee bit sneaky and caught an overnight sleeper train to Bangkok from Laos (comfy beds but didn't sleep well as it was pretty noisy... and I was very excited like a small kid!). I then spent the day and night in Bangkok which was most enjoyable doing some shopping, and going to the cinema to see Hercules for just $1.80 (that's 1 pound 80p... this computer doesn't have the symbol!). Then the next morning I caught the train to the airport as I booked myself on the same plane as my boyfriend to Hanoi.  You should have seen me sneaking around the airport, trying not to bang into him (and also trying to find him!). I managed to bang into 2 Northern Irish girls I'd met in Chiang Mai a month before... small world!).  Eventually I found him waiting at the departure gate.  I shouted his name and his face was a picture! He just gazed at me as if I wasn't there. He he!  It was so lovely to see him and we caught the flight together which was a great start to our 3 weeks together. He said he's going to get me back as he had no idea... I said we are even now after he surprised me with Faye and Lindsay coming over for my leaving weekend!!

We arrived into Hanoi and I surprised him again as I'd organised a chauffeur transfer to our hotel.  My name was on a sign in the arrivals area.  Nice!  Our hotel was lovely, really close to the old town and the staff couldn't have been more helpful.  We went for a wander in the old town.  I forgot about the crazy bikes in Vietnam (I went to Ho Chi Minh in 2009).  There are no rules here... if a traffic light is red, they still drive.  If a street is one way, they still go down it the wrong way.  And the noise from the bikes! Ahh!  We walked around the Lake which was beautiful.  Then we tried some street food - Nem (battered & deep fried pork).  OMG it was delicious! It came with a spicy tomato sauce.... I was in food heaven!  We sat on tiny seats (imagine small kids plastic seat with no back) and along with a iced tea and the locals nearby, we enjoyed the craziness of the city.  We went to another street nearby with loads of bars, which also had the same seats.  Enjoying a beer, all of a sudden everyone started to get up and move the seats back inside.  Then the Police came.  Yes the bars aren't supposed to have the seats on the street!  Shame as it was really fun!  But alas, it wasn't long before the Police left and all the bars moved the seats back outside.  Brilliant!  We went to another couple of bars and then to bed.

The next couple of days were spent exploring Hanoi.  We visited the temple in the Lake and the Literature Temple (both stunning).  Walked a LOT!  Drank a LOT!  Ate lots of local food (I especially enjoyed it when I ordered Bun Cha - soup with pork and noodles - and found a really long hair in it.  UUgggghh!  Sorry if this makes you feel a bit sick, it's making me queasy thinking about it!).  We went to the Ca Tru Club where we listened to live traditional Vietnamese music in a beautiful setting.  One of the highlights of Hanoi though was the cooking class.  We saw it advertised at the Little Hanoi restaurant in the old quarter and I'd heard from other travellers that it's a cool thing to do and you get to eat the food you've made (yes please!).  When we arrived it was just us and the chef (Tien).  We learned to cook 4 meals; spring rolls with a dip, papaya salad, Chinese 5 spice chicken and fried aubergines.  The chef was really good and his English was spot on.  He even made a swan out of a tomato.  As you do!  After a couple of hours, we got a sit down and enjoy the fruits of our labour.  OMG it was just so good! I'm not just saying that because we made it (well helped to make it) but the flavour combinations, WOW! Throughout Vietnam we tried a lot of spring rolls and none came close to the one's we had here.  I hope we can recreate it when we get home!

We tried to book seats on the train to Sapa a few days in advance, but they didn't have sleeper beds available so we decided to go for a night bus. I'd heard the buses were pretty good in Vietnam and the price was cheap so why not!  The beds were proper flat beds, a bit like a business class seat on a plane (ok a little bit like that!).  And they had wifi on the bus! Pretty cool! I managed to sleep but Anthony didn't.  I think he was too excited (we both felt like kids on a school trip!!). Finally, after a lot of twisty roads, around 5am, we arrived into the beautiful mountains of Sapa.