Hanoi to Hue

We arrived in Hanoi at 7pm on 22nd and booked into our hotel, the Beryl Signature Hotel. A lovely big room and nice ensuite. We then ventured out for some food and hoping to find an ATM. What a shock we got! There were motorcycles everywhere, parked across the pavements and coming at you from all directions. It was terrifying! We eventually found an ATM, and a scruffy little cafe for some food. Not a good start!
The next morning we walked over to the Hoan Kiem Lake. Bry had fish noodle soup for breakfast and I had coffee and cake at a very expensive restaurant overlooking the lake. After that, we started

walking. We saw St. Joseph’s Cathedral, had our first taste of egg coffee, visited the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the One Pillar Pagoda. On the way there, we saw Train Street. We were still having trouble crossing the street. However, when a cocky Brit crossed a particularly busy road, whilst we were still dithering and then looked back at us and shouted ‘See easy’, we both decided we had to be braver and more assertive. After that, things began to get a little easier.
In the evening we had dinner at the Hanoi Social Club, around the corner from the hotel. A lovely meal and a few beers. There was live

music, but we were just too tired to stay.
Friday 24th November
Up early today for a day trip to Ninh Binh an excellent day, in which we saw the ancient capital of Hoa Lu, we cycled and went in rowing boats through 3 caves. The boats were rowed with feet. We were back in time for a roadside beer and a roadside haircut and shave for Bry.
Saturday 25th November
A day of poodling around. We took a red bus city tour, which was very good, but which we probably should have done on Day one! Getting

very good at crossing the road now!
Sunday 26th November
We were collected at 8am and taken in a Limousine van to Ha Long Bay for a 2day, 1 night cruise. We arrived on the dockside and met our fellow travellers. Mostly Indian, but also 2 young people from Seaton, Abi and Dan, who we immediately struck up a friendship with. The cabin was beautiful, the food was wonderful and the scenery was amazing. The cruise wasn’t really two whole days, more like 24 hours, but we certainly packed in lots of activities. We went on rowing boats, kayaks, did Tai Chi and swam. The water was pretty murky and probably very polluted. There were lots of cruise ships in the bay, Bry counted 30, which spoiled it a little. However, overall it was a good experience and I’m glad we saw it.
We were taken back to Hanoi and arrived at 2:30pm. After a little lunch we took the taxi to the airport. We arrived in Hue tired, but glad to get away from the Chaos of Hanoi.