We woke up in our hotel room around 7am and quickly got ready. I had such a nice sleep in my big double bed and the room was nice and air conditioned. We picked up some snacks for the long bus ride into Vietnam and got on the bus. It was strangely nice. We had so much room and there was probably only about twenty people crossing the border. Which explains why we all were given breakfast and a bottle of water when we got on! We drove for about four hours then it was time to get off. Crossing borders is really intimidating. There are police everywhere and you immediately feel like you have done something wrong! We got our bags scanned and headed through customs pretty quickly. It was actually a lot smoother than I had imagined! We got back on the bus and then a short while later we had a pit stop for lunch. It must have been included in the price because i didnt pay a thing!
Around 4 pm we were In Hanoi! I really enjoyed looking at as we were arriving and seeing the differences from china. Hanoi immediately looked slightly less dirty. Haha. It's really quaint and such a nice place. We got our bags off the bus and all I could think about all day was Kyle and how he did in his results. I said to mel I needed to find an Internet cafe and see how he did. As soon as my wifi was on I got a text saying he got 2 A stars and an A and I burst into tears. I have never felt so proud! I ways knew he could do it, so did everyone, but it was still so lovely to hear. After I wiped my happy tears mel and I decided on a hostel and found 'central backpackers' which we booked Into.
They mixed up the rooms and mel and I ended up bagging ourselves a double room for the night! Nice!
We headed down to the hostel bar as there is a tv down there and we ended up getting chatting to a big group of people. Jonny is a big American guy from California and one of the funniest guys I have met so far. He turns 21 in 5 days but i honestly though he was about 27. We met a guy from the Netherlands called 'hanky' which we all openly laughed at. He gets it a lot so it's fine. 'Master' is a Japanese guy who is like a silent guru or something. He is so silent but will come off with a pearl of wisdom every two hours. We ended up making endless jokes about this. It was very funny! Aiden is a lovely guy from London. He quit his job as a high paid solicitor as he was sick of the mundane 9-5 life and generally being treated like crap In his job. Respect to him! Two Dutch girls staying in our room floated in and out for a while but I think they like to keep themselves to themselves! I was happy with our crowd and we decided to head out. We hit up a bar in Hanoi which was dead, but never fear, we brought the party. I unleashed my unforgettable dance moves of course and we had great craic. Bars and drinking spots in Hanoi typically have a curfew, so at 11 we were all turfed out. Hanky took us to a place called 'half man half noodle' which immediately made me laugh. What a ridiculous name! At first half man half noodle looked like a dark empty warehouse. I asked hanky what the hell was going on. He then told us to follow and found a secret door at the back. He opened it and immediately the buzz from the bar was overwhelming! I couldn't believe it; it was like something from narnia! Haha. We chilled there for a bit, chatted, sang and had a great time.
At about 12 we all headed back to our respective hostels and crashed! When mel and I went back to our double we were gutted as two guys had checked in and were sleeping in the other double, so mel and I kipped together!