Hanoi 1

After my breakfast but still well early I found my way to the small lake at the centre of town, at which were hundreds of old people stretching and limbering up. I even found one group of middle aged ladies practicing sword fighting. Just before 9am I walked back to the place where I'd dumped my bag, only to find it surrounded by loads of other bags and the place full of backpackers taking all the feckin rooms. I walked to a few of the places next door and asked if they had a room but they were all full. By the time I got a chance to speak at the first place the lady said there was one room left in their other guesthouse. I accepted, figuring if this place came recommended then so would their other place. The lady even agreed to organise my bus ticket to China which was reassuring. So I was led down the street, down some incredibly tiny lanes full of market activity and then down a tiny gap between two buildings and to a side door into the guesthouse. The room was a bed sized box on the 6th floor, with a shared toilet and shower on the ground. I accepted for a very cheap price. With that out of the way, I left to wander around the backstreets of the Old Quarter and very soon lost my bearings. The place was frenetic and, even though the traffic wasn't half as crazy as Saigon, the tiny intersections got clogged very quickly. After a morings walking around I wasn't feeling any love for Hanoi. Sitting down for a coffee later I did however meet the Welsh guy from Hoi An, the retired Aussies from Hoi An, and the Swedish couple from my tour in Hue. Obviously everybody had the same travel plans. After lunch I walked over to Ho Chi Minh's mauseleum, but being a Friday it was closed. Thus my chance to see uncle Ho lying in state was ruined. Outside, big tour groups of Japanese posed for photos. Found the One Tier Pagoda which would have been nice with a few less tourists. By the end of all the walking I was well knackered and not looking forward to going back to my cell, however cheap it was. I spent the next while walking around looking for a proper-cheapo mini-hotel where I could relax a little but almost everywhere was full, even though its supposed to be feckin' off season. Found a place eventually and one of the hotel staff gave me a lift to go pick up my stuff. Switching places didn't go over well with the first place of course, and after I'd left I got really worried that the bus ticket I'd paid for would now be deliberately messed up. So after I'd dumped by bags I headed out to collect my bus ticket from the first place. Except two minutes down the road I realised I'd left my map behind at the hotel. Then I suddenly realised I didn't even know the name of the new place. Or how many left or right turns I'd made since leaving. So I started to panic. What if I couldn't find my way back? I'd have to sleep with the rats outside. I managed to find my way to the first place to pick up my bus ticket (after much deliberate delay I'm sure) and then spent a long long time checking every reception of every little hotel in the area to see if I recognised the guy sitting there. This paid off thankfully as the rats had the streets to themselves that night.