Daewoo Hanoi

... we had to pay. The hotel is very clean, friendly, helpful staff. It is more than we wanted to pay for accommodation as we need to get back down to £2.00 per person per night. It worked out to be £4.00 per person per night, but we couldn't be bothered to move on as it seemed like to much effort after a long day.


After some good food, (burger and chips in the hostel, £1) we took a walk to ...

... was heard - 'are you ok?' - the very sweet Vietnamese man next door checking on us :)
As I say, all a very strange introduction to Vietnam.

Woke up to see the outskirts of Hanoi, which is quite a shock - you realise just how poor parts of this country are. The train appeared for quite a while to be going down the middle of a street, so we were able to see right in to the shops and houses.

Marilyn & I had both had the foresight to ...

... on se promène et il suffit d’une rue ou d’un carrefour pour que tout change.
Certaines choses restent immuables comme le balais régulier des porteuses, les coups de klaxonnes incessants et les bières à la pression disponible à presque tous les coins de rues. Lorsque l’on parle de l’influence française, l’aspect le plus étonnant est de voir circuler le vendeur de baguette à bicyclette ou bien toutes ces ...

... for parking your car, motorcycle, sitting on your stool, and so on. If you want to walk, you do it in the road of course.

Speaking of which, crossing the road in Hanoi is a lot of fun. The traffic never stops, so you just walk and pray. And by some miracle, the traffic doesn't hit you (see video)

The other well known fact about Hanoi, is that it is home to Bia Hoi, the cheapest beer in the ...

... We also saw parts of the sewer system through which 100 prisoners escaped in August of 1945. There is two memorial rooms for the political prisoners. The museum showed how poorly political Vietnamese prisoners were treated by the French and how well American pilots were treated when they were held captive. There is a display with John McCain's flight suit and pictures of him as a prisoner and when he returned in 2000 for a visit. We went to Ambassador's ...

Salut, Petite journée tranquille. Magasinage en matinée pour du lait de bébé et des couches (cool...). Dans l'après-midi, piscine et petite crise de notre Yohan durant l'après-midi. Pas facile, des jours......oh well... Dans la soirée, souper au restaurant 69..........Beau nom, n'est-ce pas?..!!!Le Lonely ...

... hotel. Upon paying for our meal we experienced first hand the blatant ripping off of tourists that is rife in Hanoi. We were told the bill for our 2 pho and 2 cups of tea was the princely sum of 150,000VND! (about the equivalent of $15AU) We were gobsmacked. Our 2 pho and 2 beers in Chau Doc had only cost us 48,000VND! Our hotel was open but were were told that we would not be able to check in until about 11AM so we dumped our bags headed off ...

... warned about Vietnam, many different scams. I must say, overall, we had no problems but we were careful and again I think traveling as a family we are less of a target for these type of things. We are really enjoying Hanoi, we are staying in the old quarter with its hustle and bustle and lots of small streets. It has lots of character. We visited the Hoa Lo Prison today where many American POW's were interned including John McCain, the US ...