Back to sticky Southeast Asia

And so, on to chaotic Hanoi. Although it has lots of charm, many colonial buildings and cute restaurants and bars, especially along the railway line, where everyone has to move to the other side when a train comes along, we found Hanoi a bit stressful with the traffic and Flora. The pavements are almost exclusively taken up by mopeds and various other obstacles, forcing pedestrians onto the side of the road and therefore the traffic. In addition, many motorbikes don’t stop at traffic lights, making navigating the city on foot very difficult, particularly with a young child. It makes cities like Bangkok or Phnom Penh look like a breeze. It was also incredibly humid in between the thunderstorms.
We walked around the lake on the first day and, taking advantage of the wonderful price of 70p per bottle of beer, had a few in the evening by the railway line, where the train would

pass every now and again but there was no traffic. The following days, before heading to Ha Long Bay, we just relaxed, had our teeth cleaned, the girls had their nails painted and we had dinner at the pretty Hanoi Social Club, where alongside great food, they also presented us with really good music, a rarity in South East Asia.