We first arrived in Hanoi from Moscow after a 2 day delay. We picked an expensive hotel at $25 for a room for 2 but it had a great balcony on the third floor that overlooked the old quarter. You could do worse than treat yourself on arrival.
One thing that stuck on arrival was the bicycle and motorbike traffic. There is an art to crossing the road. The best way to just to walk slowly across and the riders weave in and out of pedestrians. This does not work with larger vehicles as they only deviate for larger vehicles!
The main sites to see that I would recommend are situated in two areas; around the central lake and north Hoi Chi Minh’s mausoleum. Around the lake are general places to eat and drink which makes it a good place to start. The pagoda in the centre of the lake is well worth a visit, as is the water puppets nearby. To the north of the city is Hoi Chi Minh’s mausoleum and the palace. When going to the mausoleum it is worth visiting the one pillar pagoda. This is quite small but has it’s own charm.
Living expenses are fairly cheap. You can eat pretty much anywhere for a dollar and get accommodation for $5 up. Hanoi is one of my favourite cities and much less commercialised than Saigon. I would recommend it to anyone travelling to the country.
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