After our previous FAIL and taxi rip-off in Saigon we blanked the touts and set off marching for 'Hanoi Backpackers' with our new 'bus' friends. We checked into the first dorm room of our travels and managed to save a few bucks by getting a double bed (we would've got a private room but they wanted $40 a night!!!) . . .$9 it was!

After a quick shower we jumped straight on a city walking tour which the rest of the hostel must've come on too! The group was far too big for our tiny guide and unless you were at the very front you had no idea what she was saying or what you were looking at! Hanoi was on a league of it's own when it came to scooter concentration and we had to walk in single file just to avoid them. On the plus side, we got our bearings of the city and met a few more people before our planned trip to Halong Bay (our main reason for being in Hanoi)!

After a 2hr search and walking out of more than one restaurant that tried to rip us off, we managed to get a bite to eat and get to know our 'Hanoi' friends a bit better. We booked on to a 3 day/2 night trip to Halong the next morning which were all looking forward to but slightly apprehensive after hearing the stories from other travellers! It seemed our chosen cruise was to be a little less cultured and a little more 18-30's booze cruise-esque. Ah well, we'd made a good few friends by now so we'd make the most of it. The rest of the day involved, socialising, swapping travel stories, and speculating about our cruise!