Hanoi Pit of Quality

For the benefit of several readers (well, Mark, Steve and Rob) I'm going to get all the Nam cliches out of the way in one go. So here they are: I haven't seen any vets like John Rambo, Magnum or Jim Robinson. I haven't found out who really robbed the Bank of Hanoi. I haven't developed a thousand-yard stare (yet). I haven't even been incarcerated in a Hanoi Pit of Hell.Instead I have been wandering around Hanoi drinking in what a thoroughly cool place it is. Hanoi is busy all the time, and rush hours are manic. There are mopeds everywhere. If you've ever seen the Wirral Egg Run (type it into Google if you haven't), imagine that amount of motorbikes but all riding in different directions all day and yet not actually crashing into each other.So as you can imagine, crossing the road is a bit of an art form. But in fact crossing the road is quite easy if you do as the locals do and just step out into the constant flow of mopeds hurtling towards you from all directions. The Green Cross Code man would probably turn in his grave but incredibly nobody gets hurt. I could stand on a street corner watching mopeds negotiate junctions all day. Its like a giant formation motorcyle team.The old quarter of Hanoi is the place to be for travellers, and has a decent mix of bars and restaurants with tons of decent hostels as well. I was a bit disappointed with the nightlife (not enough people to fill all the bars and restaurants) but that wan't enough to stop me from instantly liking the place.As a break from the noise and fumes we took a boat trip out to Halong Bay (I think its in Tomorrow Never Dies at the end). Unfortunately the weather was a bit on the crap side and we couldn't see much, but the gist is that its a bay (hence the name) with about 3000 small rocky islands in it. The low mist meant we couldn't see much of them but in fact it gave them a pretty eerie quality that I was quite pleased about.The boat trip was one of these overnight jobs, but unfortunately (like the bars) there weren't enough people to fill the vast number of boats that run every day. Still, we met some nice people on there and had a pretty nice evening, then met our first cockroaches all over the bottom deck where our cabins were. There weren't many of them but the sight was still enough to ellicit screams from Carly and Vicky (and me). Nothing we can't handle though, so after blocking every gap and crevace in the cabins with bog roll Graham and I did the manly thing and set of on Operation Roachhunt with our trusty torches and sturdy shoes. They really do make a horrible sound when they get squished.Anyhoo, we made it back to dry land safely and back to lovely Hanoi. I'm pretty lucky at the moment in that every place we've been to I haven't wanted to leave. Off to Hue next for some R&R.