Hanoi - The hustle and the bustle

What a lovely surprise Hanoi was. A busy yet lovely city with nooks and crannies and a lake that breathes life like no other.

My time in Hanoi was spent walking, sightseeing, eating and exercising! I had the best time and it was a great end to my time in Viêt Nam.

I had a cute little homestay in the centre of the old town, right by St Josephs cathedral.

My first full day, Saturday, involved my normal orientation day, slowly getting ready for the day and getting my bearings. I made my way to a Hoà Lo prison, which was an interesting visit. The prison was used for the political revolutionaries who opposed colonialism and fought for independence. In later years it had been a place for American B52 pilots who were POWs in the American war.

When I arrived in Hanoi before the cruise you may remember me mentioning the exercise class opposite my waiting place (McDonald's!). So on Sunday I decided to join them, I got up at 4.45 and joined the class at 5.30! The funniest way to wake up in the morning, doing an aerobics workout outside a top end shopping mall!

As it was an early wake up call today, I decided to I walk to train street, like most tourists in Hanoi, a must visit, and watched the train go through the street! It's funny that Hanoi have made a feature of it, it's a normal event in SE Asia, trains going through streets and villages but Hanoi has been inventive!
After a bone shaking coffee and 2 trains, I walked through Hanoi with the hopes of visiting the resting place of Ho Chi Minh.

The Mausoleum is very grand and set in huge grounds and surrounded by queues and queues of adoring Vietnamese waiting to visit Uncle Ho. There was absolutely no way I was going to queue but it was really lovely walking round the building, following the queues and all school groups screaming hello and high fiving as I walked past. I walked home through the botanical gardens and spent time by the Hoàn Kiếm lake.

Final full day in Hanoi, and again, I joined my new friends for my wake up fun. It was obviously pink day for the Encoure exercise group and they were the sweetest group of ladies who wanted pictures of us all together afterwards and kindly took pictures on my phone for me. A reward of sticky rice and coffee for breakfast on my way home and a day of wandering again.

I made my way to the Imperial city which was amazing, one of the best exhibitions I have been too. As part of visit, you get to go to visit the excavation site where many remains where found. I stayed there for a long time mainly people watching, it's obviously a very important place for the Vietnamese and many schools and parties were here to take professional photos!

I have really enjoyed my time in Hanoi. A vibrant, lively, friendly, energetic city and really sums Viêt Nam up as a country. I'll miss you but on to the next country, Thailand for the last days in Indochina and my lovely brother, Tash and Bluey (Sparky is very excited).Read more