Arrived in Hanoi

Landed right on time, 9.00 pm (1.00 am Oz time).

Got through customs quickly and were met by our Wendy Wu person . She had a driver with a mini bus who drove us for the 45 minute trip to our hotel, the Q Hotel.

This was our introduction to Hanoi traffic with its seeming lack of road rules. To add to the 'excitement' it was dark and raining.

Fell into bed about 11.30 (3.30 am Oz). Didn't get down to breakfast till 8.30ish. Because we arrived a day early and hadn't been able to book into the same hotel as the tour will use, we stayed at the nearby Q Hotel. It was very nice and very comfortable. Directly across the street was a french bakery. It worked though the night and a constant stream of motor cyclists took bags of bread away to be delivered.

After breakfast we decided to pack our cases and take them to our next hotel, the Flower Garden. The reception staff were quite happy to store our bags until our rooms were ready in the afternoon. Loc, our tour guide, happened to be there so we met him and confirmed arrangements for later that day.

This done, they ordered us a taxi to take us to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology.

The taxi was a small Hyundi. Somehow we were shoehorned into it and off we went. We then experienced about thirty minutes of what thrill seekers might call extreme sport - Hanoi traffic. Janette calls it dodgem cars on steroids.Read more