Let me set the scene...
Overtired, hungover and fresh off a plane, our uber dropped us off at the building where people were spilling out into the street, drinking, dancing with the music BLARING into the night (basically, we heard it before we seen it).
Roisin and I looked at each other silently, thinking the same thing and hoping this was the wrong address, but alas, it was not.
We checked in and navigated our way through the bustling crowd with our huge backpacks and airplane pillows still nestled comfortably around our necks, praying that we would fall asleep as soon as we lay our heads down. Fortunately, and surprisingly we managed to sleep as, on the 7th floor, not a sound from downstairs was heard, not even the bassline of the music that somehow creeps into a locked dorm in a party hostel.
The other girls in our x8 bed room informed us that the music stops at 12 anyway, out of respect for the neighbourhood, and the hostel takes all party goers on a nearby pub crawl, which we partook in the following night, obv...
The Hostel is great for organising walking tours and day trips and the free breakfast is always a plus!
The walking tour departs from the hostel every morning from 10am and is led by a local. Our group had to stick really close together, as the traffic in Hanoi is, (for lack of a batter phrase) like Fast & The Furious on crack! The mount of motorbikes on the road at once driven by everyone and their Granny is INSANE!!
Horns beeping every second, crossing the road is like a game of chicken so I fear for my life everytime we turn a corner or change direction. Some are even on the pavements so it's kinda like, where are the pedestrians meant to go?!?
Roisin even collided head on with one on the tour which was kinda the funniest and scariest thing ever rolled into one, but the driver just said a casual "Sorry", and rolled on out like it was a natural occurrence.
We visited Hanoi's oldest Temple and our guide advised us never to walk through the main entrance of a Temple, as this is reserved for Royalty and Monks. It's always interesting to hear little tit-bits and advice from locals to gain a better understanding of the place and culture.
Next we visited the Markets where there were tailors displaying an array of brightly coloured fabric and material, fishmongers selling live crab and turtles and butchers still plucking chickens for all to see. Poor little chicky's :(
We had the opportunity to sample a free egg coffee from a local cafe, which to my surprise, I really enjoyed! Even though egg coffee comes iced, I would recommend it being served warm. Much yummier! Another opportunity we stumbled across was attempting to carry a local street vendors' double ended pineapple baskets! Those things are HEAVY!
Hanoi people also wear pollution masks about 99% of the time, due to the gasoline and smoke in the air from the many motorbikes on the road. Now having experienced the City, I can understand why, as I feel myself developing a small cough from being outside majority of our time here.
Our tour guide also recommended we visit Hoa Lo Prison and the Women's Museum while we were here, which both cost 30,000VND entry (roughly £1).
Hoa Lo Prison was a prison used by French Colonists in Vietnam for politcal prisoners then later by North Vietnam for US Prisoners of War during the Vietnam War. It's a very harrowing place and we came out wanting to do more research on the Vietnam War ourselves after learning so much that had happened through the museum inside. I'm slightly ashamed to say I didn't really know much about it before we visited, but I definitely do now.
The Women's Museum was an interesting visit too.
We learned a lot from Women's rights in Vietnam, to marriage traditions, folklore, dress and religion.
We're excited to tie up our adventure in Hanoi and finally book a getaway to Ha Long Bay to celebrate our friend, Katja arriving from Norway to join us on our Asian Adventure for the next 2 months! There are loads of travel agents to choose from, so it's a case of going around and finding the best deal for what we want to do.
Wish us luck!
Stace x
