Hanoi

I was intruduced to Hanoi in a very disapointingly dull manner. For one of the world's greatest cities, it took a while for me to justify the title. For starters, my accommodation was rediculously situated some twenty minutes walk from the Old Quarter. Rain did not cease and flooding was a problem in many streets.

Trying not to let the rain get the better of my day, most of my time was spent ambling through the streets of the Old Quarter. A visit to Hanoi Railway Station to book a passage to Lao Cai, where nearby Sapa offered great trekking, was where things got a little more interesting. No one speaks English. No one wants you there. So we left. Then the taxi driver taking us back to the old quarter had a tweaked metre so the next half hour was spent arguing, in an interesting combination of Vietnamese and English.

A visit to Hanoi Railway Station was where things got a little more interesting.