Backdate: Hanoi trip Day 1

6/4/16 Weds: Jess, LL and I decided we shld go for a 7D6N trip to Hanoi and Sapa in Apr 16. We took Vietnam airlines VA 662 (return flight $253.70 per pax) and departed SG at 1.05pm, lunch inclusive, and landed 3hrs 20mins later, which was Hanoi time 3.25pm. 

I rmb it was pretty cooling when we got there, and Especen Hotel had their pickup driver waiting to drive us thr, which luckily was in the vicinity of Old Quarter. Costed us S$121 for 4 nights thr for a family rm on the third flr... very basic amenities I will say. *The towels were kinda thin and don't feel clean though.*
After putting down our stuffs and settling Sapa 3D2N and Halong Bay arrangements (USD160 per pax, 1USD = 22,300 VND) with the hotel staff, we walked about Old Quarter nearby! *Traffic was a lil' intimidating for me at first.*

Settled for dinner at Cha Ca Thang Long to have Cha Ca, a Vietnamese grilled snakehead fish that's apparently famous. We ordered two portions for three of us to share, and drinks by the name of Chanh Leo Tuoi. I thought the fishmeat was not bad, but the smell of the onions were too raw for me~ 

Dinner was VND 120,000 each. Had to go back to Especen aft tat cos we were supposed to take the sleeper train from Hanoi to Lao Cai station to visit Sapa. *The other alternative was to take sleeper bus thr but I was worried about car accidents.* Oh yeah bought the SIM card for VND85,000, and we shared 2 bottles of 1.5L water for VND 20,000.

Our train departs at 9.40pm, and it takes about 9hr to reach Lao Cai stn. The young driver from Lead Travel company for our 3D2N Sapa tour was nice enough to give us a silght idea about Hanoi and Sapa, and also taught us some basic Vietnamese like "sit loy" (excuse me), "car men" (thank you) and "xin qiao" (hello).

There were many ppl at the train stations, and we hopped on to SP1, coach 6, rm 6 and my bed was no 23 on the upper deck. My first exp taking overnight trains, and hygiene-wise it was all ok, but I definitely did not slp well. I'm the kind of person who can't slp properly in moving vehicles, and I could hear the movement of the train and tracks all night~