Hanoi, Vietnam

A relaxing morning in Luang Prabang including breakfast at L'Estanger book shop and a self guided walking tour along the peninsula and back into town. Along the way we stopped off at Wat Xiang Thong which is 'Luang Prabang's most magnificent temple' according to Lonely Planet I thought it was ok...but them I'm getting a bit temple and buddha'd out now!

Back in the main tourist part of Luang Prabang Sandra stopped off at Phone Travel to try to track down some clothes she lost yesterday...and succeeded eventually, before a quick dash up the hill to catch a view from Phu Si. The view was good but it was bloody hot and we were running out of time to get to the airport so couldn't really do it justice.

We made it to the aiport with plenty of time in the end and the flight was fine apart from the foggy and slightly hard landing in Hanoi about 6pm.

There was nobody from our hotel at the aiport to pick us up depsite our request, so we ended up in a taxi which we were a bit dubious about but we got to our destination without being fleeced so all good.

We checked into the Hanoi Rendezvous Hotel before a brief walk around our neighbourhood near the Red Lake. We stumbled across a really cool little bar/restaurant on the fourth floor called Gecko Cafe and enjoyed a great dinner and some local Vietnamese wine before calling it a night.

Oh yeah, one more thing: my beard is now a month old and getting pretty wooly...it's becoming a liability and i'm getting more than my fair share of strange and possibly unfriendly looks so it's time for a change. I tried to poll my friends for ideas on facebook but didn't get much response so I opted for a 'friendly mutton chops'! (see photo). Sandra hated it so badly, however, that it didn't last an hour before it I trimmed it down even further. In fact I'm almost back to how I was looking 42 days ago when we left Melbourne.

We had a late start at Rendezvous Hotel before being told we couldn't stay another night because they were full...which also coincided with us politely turning down several attempts to sell us tours!After some tense moments we found our way to our new room not far away which was actually better and nicer (both staff and amenity) than the first place anyway.The weather was terrible at maybe 5-10 degrees max and raining and windy but we headed out for some sight seeing anyway via the train station to book our tickets to Danang for tomorrow and from Danang to Nha Trang for the 19th.

Did I mention it was cold?! Wow this was the first time I'd worn jeans on our trip at all and didn't want to overheat so only wore a polo shirt rather than a jumper...big mistake. Plus we only had one umbrella between us which I was happy for Sandra to use but within half an hour I was wet and freezing cold! Good news at the train station we booked our preferred seats (almost) for the sleeper trains for our onward journey to Danang and later Nha Trang.

From the train station we headed to the lake, but it was hardly lake viewing weather so we sought refuge in an Italian restaurant for a while before braving the last 20 minutes back to the hotel.

Along the way we also decided to scratch our plans to head to Halong Bay because of the awful weather, and instead head south to Danang and Hoi An in search of a bit of sun again. It's a shame but guess we'll have to see Halong Bay next time.

In the evening we headed back the Gecko Cafe again and happily enjoyed another evening of cheap but good food and drink.

Today was our last day in Hanoi so we had to check out by 12pm. It was bloody cold and wet and windy again but we tried to do some sight seeing anyway including the Ho Chi Minh Mausseleum, Koto restaurant and the Literature Museum and the markets. All attemps at warming up proved futile and by the time we got back to our hotel again we were frozen to the core. With no room to retreat to (we had checked out earlier in the day already) we had no option by to hang out in the restaurant/lobby which was protected from the rain at least but otherwise open air hence very bloody cold! I resorted to putting on a singlet, tshirt, all three jumpers I had packed and two pairs of socks!

Our train was scheduled to depart at 7pm so we conservatively planned to head of from the hotel at about 6pm. However, the hotel staff told us that after ringwing seven different taxi companies they were having no luck because anytime it rains in Hanoi the taxis are instantly in very high demand. After a nervious 10 or 15 minutes waiting for a taxi Sandra and I and another couple who were also headed to the train station decided we had better brave the elements once more while there was still time to walk the 1.5km to the station. About half way there we did actually get a taxi and all piled in...it was a very funny scene with everyone squeezed in including Sandra's backpack across the back seat. In then end we got the station with 20 minutes to spare but we were all very relieved to be there.

Sandra and I had the two bottom beds in a four bed compartment and after setting down our bags headed 15 cars to the front of the train to the restaurant. All that was on offer was noodle soup with vegetables for about 50 cents and beer but that was fine by us. Also we were thankful to be on the heated train and for the first time all day began to heat up again. Before bed we played cards for an hour or so and enjoyed another bottle of Vietname wine which really helped to make the beds softer!

We retired to our hotel for the last few hours before a frantic dash through the ran to catch our sleeper train to Danang.