Up at 6:40am where we quickly pack and get downstairs for brekky

Not as affluent of offerings as the previous hotel but it’ll do: veg noodles, toast, juices and Vietnamese coffee

The hotel gives us a ride to the airport and we arrive with a good amount of time to spare; unfortunately, we have to put one bag in the hold as we’re a few kilogrammes over the limit – something we can sort

Though it’s only a tenner, opposed to being £30 from Aus to Vietnam originally… where’s the consistency, Vietjet??

Through security and to the gate, we grab a couple of large lattes and wait to board

Boarding is a little slow but we get on and have a very fidgety individual next to us

Seems like forever but, after about 40 minutes, we’re told there’s a minor technical issue and we all need to disembark while they fix it

From the terminal, it looks like they’re changing all the aeroplane’s wheels – who knew your plane could get a flat?!

We get on with a bit of work and as it reaches the two hour delay mark, we’re given a 25,000 VND voucher – approximately 80p – to purchase a drink while we wait

We combine our tokens to get a mango and passion fruit smoothie, paying the difference, and await further instructions

As we reach the third hour, they’ve set a new take off estimation – this is quickly missed but we are boarded about 30 minutes later

Just before, we grab a small snack of a charsui pork bahn mi to share – it’s very yummy

Back on the plane, we bide our time as it passes four hours and are guided the delay is also due to missing paperwork, whatever that means ????

We take off!

The flight drags and we’re only able to get some water for free for our troubles…

We land in Hanoi ????

After collecting the checked in bag, we get to a restaurant stat to get another bahn mi, chicken this time, which we share in a Grab taxi to the place we’ll be staying at for the next several days

It’s an Air BnB which is in close proximity to St Joseph’s Cathedral, or Hanoi Big Church

The place looks a bit worse for wear than what was advertised online – we get in touch with the lady in charge and she’s kind enough to cancel the reservation after tonight ????

We get out, after a quick shower, to explore the area – this is Hanoi Old Quarter and we’re on the hunt for some dinner

After passing a few places we’ve found online to check them out, we pick the first we found – it’s a very swanky Hong Kong restaurant, called Ngo Dining, on the rooftop of a 4 star hotel

We go for a variation of a speciality we love but haven’t tried yet as well as a couple fresh juices

As dinner arrives, we understand why we haven’t ordered it before – it comes just as the duck and with no veggies, hoisin or pancakes – we persist anyways and make it a nommy treat

After dinner, we enjoy the view from outside – you can see the busy street below and the church lit up in the dark

We have a stroll down some of the walking streets in th area, taking note of a couple places to come back to tomorrow, to investigate about tours, as well as checking out an option for our new hotel

Still a little hungry, we see if the restaurants around take our interest as a last snack – we find Laca 24

We grab a cheesy pizza to share, with interestingly comes with honey – it works – and a couple fantas

Amazing that the beer is quite literally cheaper than water!

Absolutely knicky-knacked, we make our way back to where we’re staying, put a load of washing on while we watch Safe and wait for the street to quiet down as the walls are as thin as paper!

It does so about 11pm, with the Cathedral bell making itself known every now and then, and we try a punt at sleeping!