Hoi An to Annoy, Hanoi, Vietnam

The shuttle van picked me up at 9 sharp and we were on our way to Da Nang.  It looks like a very nice and modern city with huge resorts along the ocean and smaller places in the city-

I was plenty early for my flight so ate my leftovers from yesterday and visited with a couple from Malta/Poland.  

I was surrounded by babies on the flight - 3 of them.  A German couple is travelling for 5 months with 13 month old twins!  Crazeeeeee!

The owners of Luna Homestay in Hanoi gave me excellent directions on how to catch a public bus from the airport.  Hanoi is a weird place.  It’s not constant city from the airport to downtown but they are over 20 km apart.  There are random rice fields-

then miles of city, all mixed up.  The bus ride cost .80$ and a Grab would have been +$20. The bus driver stopped at every bus stop regardless if someone wanted on or off- must help him keep on schedule.  Once at the main bus depot, I fumbled around a bit trying to read the map and after asking a few people eventually found my way.

Luna Old Quarter Homestay-

is above a travel agency.  My room is at the very top, the caged in floor-

The couple works here, live above and rent the rooms further above.  I booked Room 3 but they promoted me to Room 5, the penthouse-

It’s pretty nice with lots of hot water and a kitchen in the alcove outside the room.  It’s a spiral staircase of 80 steps to get up here!  

I went walking in the tourist part called The Old Quarter where you will see everything-

People gather on little plastic chairs outside restaurants to eat, drink and visit-

There are shops galore selling anything imaginable-

Traffic is nuts-

I have to apologize to Hanoi.  I have called it Annoy since I was here 10 years ago (not sure why) but tonight I had such a good feeling here! 

I found a bar/restaurant on a corner intersection for some spring rolls which were the best I’ve had so far.  I visited with a man from The Hague, Netherlands who has been travelling for 9 months.  He goes home in 6 days-

Tomorrow is my only full day here so I’ve got lots to see and do!