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Hanoi.
Entry 16 of 40 | show all | print this entry |
We arrive in the capital of Vietnam at 7am, after 12 hours on the bus. We get two xe-oms ( motorbike taxis ) to take us to the hotel we had picked from the recommendations of the Trip Adviser website. It is clean and modern, and we can't hear the sound of car horns from the room.
We head straight out to Hanoi, beginning in the Old Quarter where our hotel is. The streets are like a narrow rabbit warren, crowded with scooters and and the morning rush hour. We find peace around the edge of Hoan Kien Lake, the natural centre of Hanoi. The place is a haven for the city-slickers of the capital, drinking lattes and making calls on their i-phones while the buzz of the city continues around them.
We are on a mission, we need to arrange a flight to Laos within a few days. This proves nigh on impossible as most flights are full for the next week. We end up booking with Lao Airways, notorious in the region for their safety record, or lack of one! We are now on a tight schedule, we have arranged an overnight trip to Halong Bay for tomorrow and we need to be back for the flight the following day. We have at best an hour to play with, not good in a country like Vietnam where 'now' means 'later'.
As we have such a short time in Hanoi we do not see many of the sights. The Ho Chi Minh mausoleum is closed, whilst its main attraction gets a trip to Russia to be refreshed. No Uncle Ho for us then.
We see the Temple of Literature, one of the citys finest buildings and explore the French Quarter with it's colonial grid-like layout.
We also eat one of the worst meals in Vietnam. Suzis pizza is a disaster!
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