Cruisy Hanoi

The lake and temple in the middle of Hanoi's Old Quarter.
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The bus trip from Hoi An to Hanoi was an absolute nightmare.  The road is on the edge of a sheer cliff with nothing to stop you from careening over the side.  The driver drove so fast, didn't bother to use the breaks.  Then at midnight did a swap, he went down the back for a kip and let the luggage boy take the wheel.  This guy did not know how to drive! He bunny hopped the rest of the way to Hanoi.  At one point people fell out of their seats because he did a massive bus hop.  He parked at a petrol station and they proceeded to wash the bus while we still just sat there.  Then the bus started pulling out... with no driver.  We eventually got there in one piece however, only to be mauled by dodgy men who came with us in the taxi.  We said "Take us to the Youth Hotel" only to be taken to the hotel owned by his sister.  Then when we finally got to the Youth Hotel the driver asked for double the price we had agreed upon because he had to detour past the dodgy hotel!

Bathroom stuff street
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We stayed in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, while not yet a World Heritage Site like Hoi An's, it was still beautiful.  There is a street for everything in Hanoi.  The shoe street where there is nothing but shoe shops.  The sunglasses street, they sell nothing but sunnies.  Our hotel was next to the hat stand street, no kidding.  It was full of welders making and selling metal hat stands.  So funny.  We had dinner at a gorgeous French restaurant and went and saw the traditional water puppets.  They were great, and they had heaps of fireworks and gave us a complimentary fan. 

Then the bus started pulling out... with no driver

Hat Stand street
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Next day, Halong Bay.

We returned to Hanoi for one day and then headed off to Nanning, China.