It's Wednesday it must be Hanoi

I just couldn't bring myself to put Hanoi on the same page as Luang Prabàng. So this is a separate blog about arriving in Hanoi.

We are in shock!

The ride to Luang Prabàng took 15 minutes and we were through all formalities in another 15 minutes. The flight took one hour and 300 miles, and two hundred years.

We arrived into Hanoi's modern airport and through customs to our driver waiting outside.  The taxi ride took 40 minutes, and in all the travelling I have done I have never encountered a ride like it. When you approached the city there were literally thousands of scooters everywhere. And they came from everywhere. They had no lights, shot through red lights, across three lane junctions and weaved into and out of the traffic. We have never seen anything like it.

The calmness of the Thais and Laotions has disappeared. Everyone is hand of horn. We went into complete culture shock as a four by four shot across the front of the taxi across three lanes of traffic bringing them to a halt as he did a u turn in the middle of the road. A bicycle shot out of a side road across three lanes in front of us, how our driver missed him, I don't know.

He at last turned off the main highways into a maze of tiny streets. Again scooters weaved in and out around us, and at last he pulled up outside our little hotel. He opened the door on my side to shield me from the on rush of scooters, and did all this with a big smile. I suppose it is normal for him.

The Hotel Glance, our little oasis of calm.  Our room...Not bad for £25 a night.

I was told that Hanoi was busy but didn't quite expect his chaos.  I don't suppose it is chaos, but everyone seems to be walking around with maps trying to work out where they are.

We went out to find some food and immediately got lost.  We saw some people eating in a street cafe and got lured in.  There was no menu, you sat down and food got put in front of you. On well join in. A big plate of fresh salad leaves with herbs. A big bowl of noodles. Something that looked like spring rolls which turned out to be crab rolls, and bowl of bbqd pork in the most delicious broth and two beers. What more can you want.  We just followed what everyone else was doing and thoroughly enjoyed it. Cost a fiver, not bad.  Called Cha Bun.

We then walked around in circles for a bit until we found some light to see where were on the map and found our way back to the hotel.

We've got the day in Hanoi before catching the train up to Sapa. So the day will be about trying to orientate ourselves. It all seems a bit scary at the moment, but I am sure when we get back from Sapa and spend a bit of time here, things will become clearer!