Hanoi

We arrived in Hanoi about 3pm and got a taxi to our accommodation.  After humphing our bags up 4 long flights of stairs we went for a late lunch.  As we didn't have much time in Hanoi, I went straight from lunch to find the hairdressers I had read about.  Even though they told me they were open until 6pm, when I arrived, the owner ( and expert colourist), was not there.  After looking at my hair and talking to the owner on the phone for about twenty minutes, the girls in the salon advised that I would need to come back the next day. Feeling deflated, I walked back to our accommodation to meet the girls for dinner.  

We had been told by a fellow traveller about a big store called The Big C, where she told us, we would be able to find lots of good cheap clothing.  We were starting to get desperate as we were headed for Sapa soon and the temperatures there would be in the high teens at best.  So, off we headed for The Big C, it ended up being a huge disappointment though.  The clothes were rubbish, and not particularly cheap!  We ended up getting some toiletries and snacks just so not to make the trip a complete waste of time.  I did buy some hair dye though and when we got back to our place, I spent the afternoon sorting my hair while Kay and Jess went for a walk to the lake.  

We took my new hair do and Jess' lovely new dress from Hoi An out for their first public appearances that night.  There isn't a particular backpackers drinking area in Hanoi but we managed to find a lively street not far from our accommodation.  We were first ushered onto tiny little chairs, with a tiny little table fit for children.  These typical Vietnamese drinking places only serve local beer and so we removed ourselves from our tiny pews and headed into the first bar we saw.  After having a couple of drinks and a dance, we met a guy from Liverpool who asked if we would go to the bar around the corner with him, and watch the end of The Devil Wears Prada.  A bit of an unusual request but since it's Jess' favourite film, we decided we would accompany him.  We ended up not really watching the end of the film and instead spent the thirty minutes talking independence and Margaret Thatcher.  We ended the night at a club close by where we danced until the early hours of the morning.

After checking out the next morning, we spent the majority of the day on 'Fashion Street' where we finally managed to get some warm clothes for Sapa.  We bordered a bus that night to take us up to the beautiful mountain village of Sapa to do some trekking.