Arrival in the Capital "Hanoi"
By train from Hue to Hanoi and a look at the great nightlife offered in the city.
After a long and restless night on the train, we were pleasantly surprised with breakfast. It turned out that a meal was included in the price, which we hadn’t realized. We could choose between a Vietnamese breakfast that looked like soup with eggs or a more international option, which was water and lemon cake. We were automatically served the lemon cake and water – the other option didn’t look too appetizing either. We arrived in Hanoi an hour and 15 minutes late. The whole journey took 16 hours. We took a taxi to the Old Quarter, where Van Minh is located, which is Jysk Rejsebureau's office/hotel in Vietnam. A room cost a bit more than we were used to, at $12 per night. The first thing we needed to sort out was our flight tickets because we wanted to head home two days earlier; otherwise, Honny would exceed her vacation by a day. We had an address for a SATA office that Jysk Rejsebureau worked with, but it turned out it had moved. Luckily, a neighbor knew the new address. After an hour of searching, we finally found the office, where it cost $30 to change the ticket. A hurricane was raging in the Hong Kong area, which we could also feel in northern Vietnam, causing it to pour rain, making it almost impossible to go outside. Across from the hotel was a hair salon, where we quickly dashed over to stay dry. Honny needed a haircut, and I treated myself to a massage and a pedicure. In the evening, the rain had stopped, so we headed down to “bar street” for dinner. We found a cozy spot where three dishes only cost 30,000 dong. Plus, we got a chocolate milkshake with vodka for 15,000 dong. We struck up a conversation with two Vietnamese girls at the neighboring table. They were good at English, which isn’t the case for many Vietnamese. We followed the girls to a karaoke bar they recommended. There was a birthday celebration happening, and we were even offered cake! We had ordered four beers at the karaoke bar, which we were supposed to pay for when we left. The girls insisted on covering the bill, and we felt guilty since we had more money than they did. We couldn’t convince them to let us pay, and we didn’t want to directly say that we were better off, as we didn’t want to come across as superior. Back on bar street, we popped into a bar that had a happy hour. “Naughty girlscout” is definitely worth a try!