GOOD MORNING from VIETNAM!!

After our peaceful Christmas at home we are back on our travels again, this time leaving the car at home and heading to South East Asia for 6 and a half weeks. Our journey with Turkish Airlines is fairly smooth, although it's been a good few years since we've done such a long flight and definitely our backs and knees noticed the difference. We had a fairly short layover in Istanbul with time for a beer... although we neglected to check the Turkish exchange rate and ended up paying a princely €16 each for a 500ml can of crap beer!

On arrival in Hanoi the immigration and baggage collection was very quick thanks to the eVisa system, and our hotel had arranged a private transfer for the hour long trip to the city centre. At €15 we weren't expecting anything fancy but it turned out to be a brand new Mercedes SUV with acres of leg room! Our hotel is in a great location, on a side street just off a main thoroughfare, a little less traffic although it's still very busy. As we're fairly knackered after a sleepless night we have a quick nap before heading just two doors down to a craft beer bar for a pint and a burger, followed by a very short walk to the nearby St Joseph's Cathedral.

Next morning (Sunday) we head out to walk around the "Old Quarter", in particular the area known as the 36 Guild Streets. Traditionally each street in this area belonged to a different guild, such as the tinsmiths, silversmiths, fan makers, basket weavers, toy makers etc.

Everywhere is incredibly busy, with cars, pedestrians, cyclos (rickshaws) and thousands of motorbikes all trying to squeeze through the same spaces. There is no way to walk on most sections of the footpaths as they are covered in parked scooters, street food vendors, and loads of tiny plastic tables and chairs for people to sit and eat. Instead we have to walk down the edge of the street and hope not to get hit by a scooter when you have to step out around a parked car or other obstacle. Technically they drive on the right here, but in reality they drive wherever they feel like, with motorbikes in particular winding their way through crowds in all directions. Crossing the street is fairly harrowing, generally it's a case of start walking, keep going straight and at a steady pace and trusting them to weave around you!

After a couple of hours walking it's time for something to eat, so we stop on "beer street" for a traditional Vietnamese sandwich, called a Bánh mì. These are made with special local bread (crispy on the outside but very soft in the centre), pâté, pickled vegetables, soy sauce, and whatever main filling you choose - in our case bbq pork. They were absolutely delicious and I'm sure we'll eat a lot more over the next few weeks!

After lunch we do a little more wandering, visiting a small temple before reaching Hoan Kiem lake. At this stage we're starting to wilt in the humidity but we visit the Ngoc Son Temple on the lake before stumbling back to the hotel for a couple of beers on the balcony.