Hot summer days in Hanoi - June 2007

We had planned this trip sometime in Jan 2007. It was not exactly a dream location, but what the heck, we got cheap tickets from AirAsia then, and we haven't been to Hanoi. So about a month before the actual departure in May 2007, we did our itinerary planning and accommodation sourcing on the internet. It was a 4 days, 3 nights trip. We picked a rather new hotel in the heart of the Old Quarters - Hanoi Elegance Hotel. The pictures from their website looks good and we have to say the rooms are indeed pretty comfortable. The staff too were excellent and helpful. The weather in Hanoi was very hot and humid. We spent our time mostly walking and shopping in the Old Quarters and also visited some tourists sites. Vietnamese food was generally good but after a few days, you are certainly to miss the variety of taste of Malaysian fare. Shopping was mostly for house decorative items, oil painting, clothing & silk, etc. Taxis are not cheap, walking around is easy if you don't mind sweating. As Halong Bay was supposed to be a must see, we made a day trip there where we boarded a boat to tour some of the islands there. While there, we visited some floating villages and old limestone caves. It was a very tiring 6 hours journey from Hanoi and back.