Vietnam's great capital - Hanoi

We arrived in Hanoi early in the morning, Dana and Ella went off to their hostel and I to mine, we would meet up later on for drinks. I checked in to my hostel and went off to meet Rachel who I originally met in Dalat but also spent time with in Hoi An. We went off for the day exploring the city. The first stop was the Women's museum which was full of great Vietnamese history and women's dress. Of course we had to try some on!  

We explored the city some more, doing a bit of shopping, stopping for some amazing but extremely spicy noodle soup street food. There's a big lake in the middle of the city which we walked around in the baking heat. 

Just when we needed a break from the sweltering heat we stumbled across the air-conditioned post it note cafe. Hanisha had told me about the cafe from her visit but I had completely forgotten about it until we saw it. I looked for her note but there were just too many to read. I added a couple special ones of my own.

That evening I had dinner with Rachel and then she was off on an over night train to Sapa to do some trekking. I went off to meet Dana and Ella for a few drinks and to hear about their day. The next day we decided to meet for lunch and then go to the Water Puppets show. We had all read in the guide books it was the thing to do in Hanoi. For lunch I had a delicious potato and vegetable cheese thing! Ellis a girl Dana and Ella had met in their hostel joined us for the interesting puppet show. Ellis also happened to be on the same trip to Halong Bay the next day. The show was in Vietnamese so we had to use our imagination of the storyline. The puppets were great with vibrate colours and movements dipping in and out of the water. They made me giggle with the strange high pitched music going on in the background. It was certainly an experience, I'm not sure I would go again but it did make me giggle! 

In the afternoon we all treated ourselves to beauty treatments. I had a lovely massage while the girls got there nails done. It was then time to say goodbye to the girls as I had to go off and meet Fran my university friend who was flying in from Beijing. They have invited me to Amsterdam so hopefully I will keep in touch and see them again in the future. 

With Love from Vietnam xxx