Day 3 - Hanoice to meet you Hanoi

I’d had about 4 hours sleep when the kids all woke up (probably still drunk because I didn’t hear them come back) They were chatting quite loudly whilst packing. I managed to drift off and doze a little bit (thanks earplugs!) but I found out later that Tyler had pulled back his curtain and told them to shut up, which they did. Good lad. When I got up I tried speaking to the guy in the bed above me but it turned out he could only say “Yes” so that conversation didn’t really go anywhere. It was raining again so I chilled in bed until about 2pm when it brightened up a little bit.

I popped downstairs to see who was about and Conrad was there planning his Vietnam  motorbike adventure. I told him I was less adventurous than him and that I was going to have Mexican food today.

When I arrived at “Tacos” I couldn’t find the door down the alleyway and ended up going up a dark staircase to be greeted by a nice old lady who pointed me back down to the correct door. It was a tiny place  and the waiter was polite to the extreme. It seemed like he could only talk in whispers whilst backing away bowing. This made ordering food slightly more difficult than it should have been but well, it’s all part of the authentic experience. My veggie burrito was decent and what I think was a chilli sauce was really nice.

By the time I left the restaurant it was pissing it down again. Luckily this time I had my poncho and umbrella. Obviously I doubled up, I didn’t see anyone else doing it so I reckon I’ll have started a fashion trend in Hanoi.

I’d planned to walk to “train street” where a train goes through the middle of a built up area once a day and is literally inches from buildings where people live and work. Due to the rain it wasn’t such a pleasant walk and it turns out that crossing the road is twice as hard when you’re holding an umbrella and wearing a poncho. It took me about 45 minutes to get there and I’d timed it to arrive when the train was scheduled to go through… But it didn’t come did it? F’in trains. To be honest the highlight of this walk was when I came to a seemingly impossible road to cross. I waited for about 5 minutes trying to find a gap when finally I saw a Vietnamese guy going for it. I stood next to him and literally shadowed him across the road. I thanked him in Vietnamese and he nodded and smiled. That was definitely my favourite interaction with a local during my three days in Hanoi.

I walked back to the hostel with a new found road crossing confidence and managed not to get run over. I’ve finally cracked it! On my final day in Hanoi! Damn! Tyler was at the bar when I got back so I had a little catch up and a few drinks with him. Turns out he’s a welder but he’s fed up with it so he’s going to become a chef when he gets back to London.  Conrad showed up and added a few of us on Facebook. I hadn’t expected the first person I added on Facebook on this trip to be a Tory. My dad would be turning in his grave... if he was dead.

It was at this point I got a message from Dan saying they’d been advised they need an onward flight from The Philippines to be allowed into The Philippines. Brilliant. So I spent the next hour trying to book a ticket to Kuala Lumpur through AirAsia but the app and website were both failing at life. Eventually I got it to work and luckily Dan & Mary’s connecting flight on the way to NZ stops at KL, so I booked the same flight as them. Yay! Plane friends!

I ended up having a nice language barrier chat with the barman at the hostel about life, the universe and everything (I think) and once I’d finished my second gin & tonic, I said my goodbyes to everyone at the hostel and headed up to bed for a maximum of 5 hours sleep.