Rygsækrejsen 2015-2016: Hanoi old quarter and a bit of shopping. Going home in one week.

søndag den 17. april 2016

Hanoi old quarter and a bit of shopping. Going home in one week.

This morning we woke up to the sound of rain. It's been a while since we've experienced that. We had breakfast at the hotel, Mikkel took the laundry bag and went out to find a place with same day service and decided to go for a haircut on the way back. It turned out to be one of those hair cuts that... - lets just call it "short".

Once back at the hotel we got directions for the shopping centre - Viacom Towers - and headed out for a one hour walk through the centre of Hanoi before making it to the shopping centre. It was like all other shopping malls. Same shops, same goods, same prices. A bit expensive even for us. Being at a mall there were plenty of nice options to eat lunch so we found a place serving Vietnamese fresh spring rolls, had nice lunch and then some more shopping before walking back to the hotel.

We stayed in the room in the afternoon relaxing a bit. Walking around Hanoi (and most other places in Vietnam) is really a test for all the senses and it drains our energy some days. A few hours later we headed out again, had coffee, then dinner, picked up the laundry and walked around the night market for about an hour. The night market has one big advantage - they only allow pedestrians in the market area so there is relatively quiet there, though crowded. And you do not have to constantly look out for scooters and motorbikes. Back at the hotel we packed for our trip to Halong bay tomorrow. Last scheduled excursion on this trip, today we have one week left before flying back to Denmark. Weird, crazy and a bit difficult to comprehend. But we are also looking forward to seeing friends and family - and having our apartment back.