What a welcome to Hanoi!

After dinner last night we got on the sleeper bus to Hanoi. A bumpy ride and little sleep later we arrived just past 5am. Exhausted we tried to barter with a taxi driver but he agreed to put the meter on so we got in. The meter started at 80,000 dong ($4) which seemed high but didn't go up straight away so we didn't think there was a problem. About a kilometre later then meter started increasing and fast. Before we knew it, it stated 320,000 dong ($16) and we asked the taxi driver to stop. He pulled over and we checked the amount, he suddenly spoke no English and kept pointing at the meter. The doors were locked and with the recent news story of a guy being 'kidnapped' after refusing to pay in our minds, we decided to cut our losses, pay and walk the rest of the way.
Stumbling the last steps to the hotel we were met by a locked door and a guy inside asleep on a mattress. He luckily awoke and let us in but informed us our room would not be ready until after midday. With 6 1/2 hours to kill, we left our big bags and wandered through the streets of Hanoi. We found a restaurant just opening overlooking the lake so had breakfast and played some uno for next couple of hours.
Feeling we had out-stayed our welcome, we totted off and found the women's museum. It focused on the women's role in Vietnamese history, marriage and children, and fashion. We walked around the lake and picked up a croissant on our way back to the hotel. By now it was half 12 and we were so ready for a shower and nap. We were asked to sit down (hoping for a welcome drink) and were told they had a water problem and so we needed to find another hotel to stay in tonight. The only help we got was the Wi-Fi password, and trying to sell us a tour. Deciding we deserved a comfortable bed to make up for it we splashed out for a $28 room including breakfast and dragged our tired legs across the old city. The hotel gave us some fruit juice and even took our bags up to our room, which they had kindly upgraded to a family suite with balcony. We made the most of the shower but decided as it was mid afternoon we should head back out to see what the city had to offer.
Hanoi is a busy city full of motorbikes, people and tourist traps. We weren't in the mood to be sold souvenirs, tours or foot massages so went for lunch (where the owner tried to sell us a tour). The food was good, sharing a beef coconut curry and sweet and sour chicken. We then booked tickets for the water puppet show and had a coffee and smoothie while we waited for it to start. Although the show was very interesting, we struggled to keep our eyes open. Afterwards, hardly hungry we decided to share a baked black pepper chicken pot in a cool little restaurant, Lantern Lounge. Completely exhausted we headed back to the hotel for one of our best night's sleep.Read more