Hanoi

- We flew into Hanoi early (to Chloe's dissatisfaction due to lack of sleep) and planned to wander around before heading to Halong the following day.

- We walked around the busy streets of the old quarter with its crowded buildings and chaotic shop fronts. We found our 10th or so Banh Mi of the trip (spoiled for choice in Hanoi). As for the Banh Mis, if it wasn't for their cheap price of around 2$, the probably would be better in Melbourne due to the quality of ingredients used in Aus.

- We went on a walking tour where we were shown the main places such as the lake but also some smaller places like the tiny little houses some of the older generation took up after the war, literally 4-5 square metre rooms with holes in the roof to climb into the floor above. Not sure how they live this way. We also visited an egg coffee shop which was run by the family that initially invented egg coffee after the war, the iced version was a lot nicer then the warm.

- We met an Aussie who was living in Japan on the ski resorts. We started with some local beers (Bia Hoi) for approx 70 cents and had a few drinks. We then moved on to a hidden gem I'd heard of, which was a woman making Pho in her house for tourists. We found the alleyway, went upstairs and found a loungeroom full of tourists eating delicious Pho Ba (beef). There was no english, no menu or no other choices, we parked on the tiny kindergarten chairs and enjoyed some Pho for approx $2. After that we moved on to beer street/corner which is pretty dirty in culture but a good place to people watch, particularly when beers are 1-2$ for a pint.Read more