First full day in Hanoi

Hanoi is crazy! It's so busy compared to the places we've been up until now (even Bangkok was pretty quiet). The traffic is sooo weird and no one seems to follow traffic lights or pedestrian crossings but the motorbikes and card just dodge around you?! Very weird but all limbs still intact at this stage

We had breakfast in our hostel on the top floor at the skyview floor where we could look out of the city which was nice. We had toast and jam and a banana- it was really nice but didn't fulfil our plan to fill up on breakfast so we wouldn't have to buy more food!

We watched Madagascar 2 while we packed up our stuff and showered and then checked out. The staff were really friendly and chatty as are the others we've met so far which is really nice! They gave us directions to our next hostel and happy hour tokens which was nice! Then we set off in the drizzle to the next hostel. It was a bit stressful as the roads are narrow and all look similar and the cars and motorbikes are constantly beeping to warn you of their presence but we made it! We couldn't check in but we left out bags there and sat in a communal area for a while.

Next we headed out with a healthy plan of going to dominos. It was really cheap compared to England and we sat and had pizzas for lunch which was nice. From there we went to an ATM to get out some Vietnamese money as we didn't have much, and then headed to Hoa Lo prison.

We paid around £1 entry each and spent an hour or so walking around. It was used for revolutionaries when Vietnam was still a French colony and then for American soldiers shot down during the Vietnam War. It was really interesting to see and learn about, particularly seeing inmates who had successfully escaped via sewers.

We also got to walk past a really beautiful lake to get there, the gloomy sky made the water look really easy and it was just really pretty.

We stopped at a mini mart and then in a shop advertising trips to Halong Bay which I wanted to visit. They offer day trips there for $32 each so we booked one for tomorrow. Then we came back to the hostel. We checked in; we're in a 6 bedroom dorm on the 9th floor so have a good view over the city and the room is spacious with bunk beds. We need to sort out a washing line though to try our clothes!  Also no idea if my photos are posting but I have managed to get some off my camera using the computers at the hostel and will add some to previous posts

Laura x