On Sunday at 7:30 our guide takes a big bunch of tourists to the railway station, a short walk across the square, and we all head to the various carriages. We are booked on the Sapally carriage this time, a cut above our Fanxipan on the way up. We booked berths for the 2 of us so we don't have to share. so don't feel we need to use our silk sleeping bags. We have a fancy plastic flower arrangement and bedside lamp here! They provide slippers to venture off to the good toilet and double sink at the end of the carriage, toothbrushes, washcloths and water.
The neighbours keep up a noisy tirade for a while but I put on my eye shades and ear plugs and they soon fade away. I sleep til 5am when the guards walk through knocking on ur doors to wake us up. It's been a short night!
We open our door and there is the smiling, friendly face of Anthony, our guide from the nice boutique Hanoi Elegance Diamond hotel with "Edward Foster" on his big card, ready to take our bags and get us back to our hotel in central Hanoi. He grabs a cab and in 10 minutes we are back at the hotel at 5:20am.
The good thing about an early ride through the city is watching every out doing their morning exercises, Tai Chi walking, etc.
The hotel allows us a room in the spa to shower and rest until our room is available. At 7:30 we are off to our sumptuous breakfast on the roof and greetings of welcome back from all the lovely staff there.
By 8:30 we are ready for some tourist activities. So off to the interesting Hanoi History Museum in the beautiful French quarter, home of the opera house and many beautiful buildings. There a few visitors and it's a litany of propaganda but also an interesting summary of Vietnam's history.
We get the cab to drop us on the lake close to our hotel and enjoy coffee and juice at the sidewalk waterside cafe and watch the action. We stroll around to check on some restaurants Ted has heard about (and friends at the hotel have recommended) and book a table for our last night in Hanoi.
We walk through the tourist upmarket shops (Prada, Gucci, etc.) this is the capital after all, and there's plenty of signs of affluence here. I resist buying even though we've acquired an extra all suitcase for Ted to take to Sapa. The small souvenirs we've bought will fit in there, with some shoes.
The neighbours keep up a noisy tirade for a while but I put on my eye shades and ear plugs and they soon fade away. I sleep til 5am when the guards walk through knocking on ur doors to wake us up. It's been a short night!
We open our door and there is the smiling, friendly face of Anthony, our guide from the nice boutique Hanoi Elegance Diamond hotel with "Edward Foster" on his big card, ready to take our bags and get us back to our hotel in central Hanoi. He grabs a cab and in 10 minutes we are back at the hotel at 5:20am.
The good thing about an early ride through the city is watching every out doing their morning exercises, Tai Chi walking, etc.
The hotel allows us a room in the spa to shower and rest until our room is available. At 7:30 we are off to our sumptuous breakfast on the roof and greetings of welcome back from all the lovely staff there.
By 8:30 we are ready for some tourist activities. So off to the interesting Hanoi History Museum in the beautiful French quarter, home of the opera house and many beautiful buildings. There a few visitors and it's a litany of propaganda but also an interesting summary of Vietnam's history.
We get the cab to drop us on the lake close to our hotel and enjoy coffee and juice at the sidewalk waterside cafe and watch the action. We stroll around to check on some restaurants Ted has heard about (and friends at the hotel have recommended) and book a table for our last night in Hanoi.
We walk through the tourist upmarket shops (Prada, Gucci, etc.) this is the capital after all, and there's plenty of signs of affluence here. I resist buying even though we've acquired an extra all suitcase for Ted to take to Sapa. The small souvenirs we've bought will fit in there, with some shoes.
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