Rest Day: Hanoi down time

I saw this on the walk between hotels.

I turned today into a rest day. By the time I'd had breakfast and posted the report on the Hua Lo and Tam Coc, it was time to check out of the Rising Dragon Estate Hotel and head to the Hong Ngoc Cochichinne Hotel. On the map, it was a 15-minute walk along a main avenue, turn left walk four (small) blocks, turn right and it's on the next corner. Guess what: it worked!

The Hong Ngoc is another very nice hotel rated about 3-and-a half stars. Comfortable, clean, modern Asian looking.

By the time, I'd checked in it was lunchtime. I got a Banh Mi and chips from the hotel bar and then went back to my room. I snuck in a nap and that pretty much crushed my enthusiasm for going out again. So I did some reading and watched some (cable) TV. So, sue me; I'm on holiday!

At 6 pm, I joined the group on the Intrepid tour. There's 16 of us from seven different countries. About half of the group are on this tour as part of a series of tours. The tour leader is Tham Ta, a Vietnamese woman with quite a bit of experience in tourism and very good English. She took us through all the necessary administration and then led the bulk of us out to dinner just down the road.

Tomorrow the tour proper starts. I'm going to try to get a really good night's sleep tonight as tomorrow will be on a boat and the night after on an overnight train. I'm not seeing a lot of good sleep in my immediate future.