Hanoi

Our hotel in Hanoi was located in the Old Quarter, which was a really interesting area to wander around. All 36 old streets are named depending on what they sell. There are whole streets dedicated to different things e.g. shoes (Hang Dau),  silk (Hang Gai), china bowls (Bat Su)... This makes for very straightforward shopping! Strolling around Hanoi, almost every shop/cafe in the Old Quarter had these little birds hanging outside - I loved hearing them all tweeting as we were walking around!

We much preferred Hanoi to Saigon, and spent many a happy hour eating ice-cream by this lake and trying to spot the famous giant tortoise who lives in it. He (or perhaps she?!) caused a huge stir recently when (s)he came out for some medical treatment. I still haven't worked out if this turtle does in fact exist or if it's along the lines of the Loch Ness monster.

Hanoi is a city which you can't just appreciate at eye level. If you look up, there's so many layers to all the buildings, almost as if each storey had been added on as an after thought.

In contrast to us Brits who, at the very sight of sun, expose as much flesh as possible in the hope of getting brown, the 'white' look is very much the desired skin colour in South-East Asia. Often, ladies here will cover every inch of flesh in order to stay as pale as possible (as modelled below).