Day 3 & 4 - Hanoi

My first venture out into the bustling streets of Hanoi solo this morning, with Gem getting lashes done and our friend Thao Nguyen working, I set off tentitively... Basically waiting for any road to clear or for any driver/biker to stop at a pedestrian crossing is never going to happen... So to cross any street, you edge out (Frogger style...) and let the traffic avoid you - sounds mad but works surprisingly well..

The sounds, smells and general craziness of Hanoi's Old Quarter are a sensory overload!! The availability of amazing food at ridiculously low pricea was a highlight for me. I had my first Bun Cha - which is essentially a pork filled broth with a side of crab spring rolls and big plate of noodle!! I found everything delicious and bared the cramping pains that come with sitting on the tiny plastic furniture, to finish every drop!!

Wirh Gems lashes sorted we headed off to meet TN for another local delicacy Egg Coffee! Surprisingly alot nicer than it sounds for me, but one Gem wasnt a fan of - coffee for the non-coffee drinkers was our takeaway!

Then on to train street - a cool, carnival styled street thats main attraction is its madly close proximity to the passing trains! We settled at a bar and quickly established nothing was happening untll later that evening - the lady kindly offered us a spot for the 820pm train passing and we set off for dinner to make it back in plenty of time.

Dinner at Cha Ca Thang Long was a great experience! They provided a hot plate at your table and all the relevent ingredients to cook your Swamp Fish (we werent sure either....) and off you went!! Despite almost burning their pan, we got on ok and food turned out delicious!!

Back to the train street - making sure not to miss the 820pm! It was a surreal experience to see the train wizz past so closely, and we were in a prime position thanks to our new friend to get some great videos! From they we headed to Beer Street (you really know what your getting from thier road names..) and we finished our night in a great bar called Purple Blues - they had live music with a great band doing covers of all the classics!!

Day 4 was far more chilled - a nice relaxing morning followed by a stroll around the lake, some coffee with TN at a cool place that used old mopeds for furniture, some sightseeing at local temples and churches then some drinks on our lovely hotels rooftop!Baca selengkapnya