It's a 3am start today because we're headed for Hanoi, Vietnam. Our flight leaves at 6am and it takes a hour to get to the KL LCCT terminal (where the cheap airlines fly from).
By 8.30am we've arrived in Hanoi. We did our visas online so it's quick and easy to get into the country. There's the normal bartering for a taxi when we have no real idea how much it should be anyway. Finally settling on 250,000 Vietnamese Dong (13 USD), we make our way into the city's old quarter.
We didn't book a hotel but heard the Golden Sun is a good bet so we head there. Sadly there is no room at the inn, but the staff are lovely and offer us a ride to their sister hotel a couple of streets away. Before we know it, we're on the back of two motorbikes, going the wrong way down a one-way street. Welcome to Vietnam!
With no real agenda, we decide to walk around the old quarter and get lost in the maze of roads and alleyways. We quickly learn how to cross the street while mopeds and cars stream towards us...follow the locals! And a good tip from our hotel sends us to New Day restaurant, where we have yummy Vietnamese food without another tourist in sight.
A couple more hours of walking around and the 3am start is starting to take its toll on Rich. We finish the day by grabbing an early dinner and a walk around the night market (a market full of crap) on the way back to the hotel.
