When I was in 'Nam, dude...

Exhibit of traditional weavers at the Ethnology Museum
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We took the overnight train from Guangzhou to Nanning, arriving at the cheerful hour of 4am.  This being China, there were loads of people bustling round outside the train station, slurping noodles, staring at foreigners, that sort of thing.  It took another couple of hours before the ticket desk opened to inform us that we couldn't travel directly to Hanoi, unless we wanted to wait until tomorrow, which we didn't.  However, they did sell us a ticket to Pingxiang, on the Vietnamese border.  Off we went.

Communal House, Muong Tribe we think
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Four hours later we emerged from Pingxiang station to be greeted by the inevitable onslaught of touts, although I welcomed them, considering it was lashing rain and I had no idea which way the border was.  We haggled a little then boarded a tuk-tuk, which trundled through the downpour for about 20 minutes before depositing us at the border, or as near as he could go.  The driver, enterprising soul that he was, changed some of our money into Dong for us, communicating through an ingenious series of notes.  For example, note 1 reads: Would you like to change money?  Note 2: There's no money exchange at the border.  Note 3: You can't use Chinese RMB in Vietnam (not true, by the way).  We duly changed a little, just to be on the safe side, at which point he produces note 4, with a flourish: The notes are not fake, are you sure you wouldn't like to change a little more?

The notes are not fake, are you sure you wouldn't like to change a little more?

Street scene, Hanoi
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Crossing the border was uneventful enough, then we took a taxi to the next town, then hopped on a minibus to Hanoi.  The trip took about three and half hours, more than enough time to decide that the traffic in Vietnam is completely crazy; there was even an accident en route (involving somebody else's bus, don't worry) just to make sure we got the point.  We entered Hanoi over the Red River, marvelling at the frenzied moped driving and deciding we wouldn't be doing any cycling in this town.  Pretty soon we were in the Old Town.  Unsurprisingly, we stopped outside a hotel and the owner came out to greet us.  Despite our immediate misgivings, it all turned out well.  The manager took us to her other hotel, right in the centre by the lake, where we originally wanted to stay.  The hotel's very new and the rooms are lovely.  Niamh was so tired at this point (she can't sleep on night trains, unfortunately) that after a shower and some food she conked out.  She's snoozing away upstairs as I type.  We'll explore tomorrow, I promise!

Drum-Maker, Hanoi
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We slept soundly and well earned it was too since we'd been travelling by a variety of methods for nigh on 30 hours. The next morning we set off to explore Hanoi, having had our first taste of fresh crusty bread since St Petersburg (I got out the Marmite I'd carted around for the occasion!).

The weather was incredibly hot and sticky as it's the wet season. We wandered around for a while through markets and winding streets in the Old Town.  Then we visited the Jade temple which is situated on an island in the middle of a lake. The temple was pretty but in one of the rooms, bizarrely, there was an embalmed giant turtle. These are said to live in the lake and are supposedly connected with a legend involving a sword. Very colourful indeed.

Street Cafe, Hanoi
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In the evening having got drenched through in a rainstorm we attended a water puppet show. Apt! We weren't sure what to expect but basically it's a puppet show using wooden puppets which bob about in a pool of water. It was hilarious.

The following day we decided to walk to the Temple of Literature and to the White Horse temple. Both very interesting and worth seeing. The Temple of Literature acted as a sort of Confucian University. For the next few days we went to Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba National Park. Cruising around by Junk which was most enjoyable. Check out the separate diary entry - Our Junket.

Street stall, various animals for sale
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On our return from our trip we checked into another hotel - long story. We took it easy the first day and the following day decided to go to the Vietnamese Museum of Ethnology which is well worth a visit - see separate review. That afternoon we took the local bus to a little town called Ninh Binh.