Day 15 – Hoi An to Hanoi

January 8th 2009

Technically Hoi An to Ha Noi of course, but that's going to be a pain to remember so will carry on with Hanoi!

Pleasant start to the day in Hoi An, up before the alarm for a change and get in a nice early breakfast giving us plenty of time to prepare for our pickup.

We go and say goodbye to the sea, although realising that we'll see the same sea in both Ha Long Bay and Hong Kong does make it slightly less sentimental!

We have a whole minibus to ourselves on the way back to Da Nang and I have to retract something said a couple of days ago. Having been driven to the centre of town for each airport we've landed at – because that's obviously where we've been staying – in going from Da Nang to Hoi An we've simply skirted round the periphery of Vietnam's 3rd largest city and I don't know whether it was just the weather or the angle with which we left but on the way back in with clearer skies we can see in the distance a whole bunch of what look like tall office blocks congregated in what must be a fairly substantial city centre. Looks like there's a lot going on here afterall, although they'll need to upgrade the airport if they're going to get serious traffic through, it's tiny...

Out flight is on time and, apart from some hassle over the weight of Sarah's carry on bag from an overzealous official, passes without incident.

Stepping off the plane it is, no other way to describe it, cold. I've been hearing all about the deep freeze that's going on back home so 15 degrees must sound like a heatwave, but not when you've come from 32 degrees with a brief stop off at 25 degrees it doesn't! It's going to be coats on and long sleeves for the duration of the holiday I think, the locals are wrapped up as if it's 20 below, all a bit of a shock to the system.

Hanoi is back to Vietnamese crazy, our driver is waiting for us but there's quite a scrum for stopping space so it's a while before he can go and pickup the car to collect us. Not mentioned the drivers much, basically because they've all just gone about their business in a very professional manner on roads which would terrify most people, not the speeds but the lack of rules and volume of motorbikes cutting in everywhere. This guy however is a bit different. Extremely pleasant and helpful with the bags, then we get in his car and as Sarah refers to it, it's the party bus. Techno music pumping out of the speakers – with some pretty choice lyrics in there at times - and then from the moment we set off to reaching the hotel, a journey of about 40 minutes, our driver is either has his phone glued to his ear deep in conversation or is looking at his phone – as opposed to the road. Nothing hairy actually happens, but we do seem to be using all of the 2 lanes rather than just the 1, oh well, we arrive in 1 piece and he gets the lowest tip possible.

Our hotel again is fine, a business hotel really. Location not quite as great as in HCMC and it takes quite a while to find ourselves on the map.


We decide to hit the streets straightaway as we're not actually in Hanoi for that long. The walk into the more central area – like most cities there isn't an actual central point – isn't far but takes quite a while as we have to walk the whole way along the road with motorbikes whistling past our ears, it's not the most pleasant stroll ever. The roads are incredibly narrow here compared to HCMC, so the pavements are given over exclusively to market stalls and parking of motorbikes, of which there are thousands, so the humble pedestrian has no choice but to run the gauntlet on the road itself.

Reaching Ho Hoan Kiem, a lake in the centre of Hanoi, is a relief as there's a chance to put a little distance between us and the traffic. We head into a sidestreet to a small bar for a drink and to collect our thoughts. We head back to the lake for a restaurant overlooking the water, and as it's getting dark – very rapidly this close to the equator – this becomes a very pleasant spot with the lights coming on all around. More Vietnamese food, including the Hanoi speciality Ca Cha – a bit like Thai fishcakes – and I have a pork dish which has caramel in the description but isn't at all sweet and is delicious, and we're ready to hit the town.

Our guidebook has a good range of bars to frequent and we're able to plot a decent looking route back to the hotel that'll take in a few of them. Keeping warm is a bit of a challenge in the first few bars which are open to the street, Sarah tackles this admirably by moving on to black russians! Quite a few places appear to have changed names since the book was written and while we visit “Mao's Red Lounge” - formerly Bar Labyrinth – we give “Bar Loo” a miss, not just for its toilet reference but the volume of the music pumping out when the doors open.

On the way back to the hotel we pass by the market which is only just closing up – is apparently open from 6am to 10pm! As my map reading skills seem to have passed the test, we get back to the hotel in time for a nightcap before calling it a night.