Day 14: Hanoi

Last day...

Unfortunately, after spending two weeks in remote villages eating all sorts of local food without any problems, it seemed that a fancy dinner in Hanoi was too much for us and we both woke up a bit unwell. Which was doubly disappointing because we had been looking forward to taking advantage of the extensive buffet breakfast at the hotel.

Our hotel room view by day

We spent the morning walking down to the Old Quarter. The shops lining the streets seemed to follow a common theme - there was a street of toys and stuffed animals, a street of sunglasses and even a street that seemed to predominantly sell stationary. All the shops were tiny, with their displays spilling out onto the footpath (which was also crammed with parked scooters and people eating at food stalls). It was often easier to brave the traffic and walk on the road.

We visited Ngoc Son Temple, perched in the middle of the lake and dedicated to the giant turtles apparently living in the water. Inside were multiple alters, heavily decorated and crammed with offerings.

The weather was still pretty miserable (same constant, misty rain that had been falling for three weeks straight), so we decided to visit the Women's Museum (as suggested by the Brit). This was actually pretty good (partly due to the fact that it had very good English translations) and had displays covering everything from clothing, to women's role in war, to marriage and childbirth. It was interesting to now learn the background behind some of the things we had seen while biking.

I was still feeling the effects of last night's dinner, though, so we decided to make our way back to the hotel and pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon reading and resting. And instead of enjoying one last cultural experience in finding a food stall for dinner, we stayed put and ordered room service.

And that was pretty much the end of our holiday. We shared a shuttle to the airport the next morning with the Brit, then flew back home via Singapore.

Reflecting back on it all now, we both had an amazing experience. Biking is an excellent way to see a place - we really got to immerse ourselves in the landscape, and also interact much more closely with the local people. I think my highlight was the massive limestone mountains around Dong Van. I'm pretty sure Ryan's highlight is still that home-stay orange :-)