by Woke at 5 am to be picked up at 5:30 am which turned out to be 6:10 am. One country conquered. As he flew out of Bangkok. We arrived in Hanoi at 10:05 am and decided to catch a minibus into town for US4 dollars each. Here we met Sean and Majella from Hill End Brisbane. The trip into town was the most amazing thing we have seen in a long time. Firstly they drive on the right-hand side. They drive in the middle and you just honk as you are coming through. There appear to be no road rules worse than in Bangkok. And everyone is on bikes, push and motor.
When we got to town all we could see were bikes about 10 cars and 1 million bikes. The women carry baskets of food on their heads and over their shoulders. Kids everywhere and there is a constant hum of horns beeping. After we were taken to the red River hotel (which is not the real red River hotel) for 10 US dollars for the night.
We left our bags and went in search of Sr Thuy Thi Ngo to help us buy a ticket for the train. We had the wrong church and seemed to be walking around in circles. We eventually found the right place and went inside to discuss plans, when we were shot out as the police were coming and she didn’t want them to know she was here??? After that, we went to the Vietnam bank to exchange some US dollars for Dong. 13,800 Dong to the US dollar. So we are now carrying around a big wad of cash. We then went to buy silk sleep sheets and we bargained our way up and down Hong Gai st until we found what we wanted. We had dinner at the red River cafe with Majella and Sean. Banana pancakes for me, fried rice for Simon. From here we book 3 trips, lots of money. Early to bed.
