Day 5

Today we had planned to see some more of the sights we’d experienced yesterday however, the weather had other ideas as it rained or drizzled consistently throughout the day. Ted woke up early to use the hotel gym and came back later so we could go to breakfast together. The breakfast here is reasonable, however it’s not easy trying to determine what’s vegetarian and what isn’t!

Since the coffee in the hotel is just the standard American type, we went out first for a Vietnamese coffee. We’ve had it before in Ho Chi Minh City and loved it and sure enough, it didn’t disappoint. It’s a very strong coffee served with condensed milk and is the best coffee I’ve had since starting this holiday.

I had considered visiting the Vietnamese military museum hoping it would be a good representation of the history of the Vietnam War, but most reviews I read said it was more a display of weaponry which I’m not so interested in. We decided to make today a relaxing day instead meaning we would take it easy.

When the weather was rainy, we stayed inside and watched Australian Survivor via YouTube, and then went for pho again for lunch. When the weather was dry, we browsed through clothing shops where Ted and I both bought some wet weather jackets, and then had a much needed foot massage, providing some relief from all the walking we did yesterday. When we’d checked into the hotel, they gave us drinks vouchers for the rooftop bar, so we enjoyed the view of the city despite the drizzling rain.

Our dinner wasn’t so original as we went to the same Mexican restaurant we went to last night but considering that we both liked it, it was a nice change from Asian food. Tomorrow we leave Hanoi to do our cruise of Halong Bay, so this evening we packed our bags back up and watched some comedy clips of Fast Forward on YouTube. Hanoi has been good albeit somewhat busy, so I’m looking forward to seeing some of the more peaceful places in Vietnam as our travels continue.Read more