(the border office)

We left our hostel a little before 7am on May 11th.We had a few hiccups but caught our bus to Hanoi. The bus journey was surprisingly easy, we were given water and stopped for lunch before the Vietnamese border. The border office was this plain 2 storey building,was seriously disorganised and time consuming. The bribes were being passed so openly, that I wondered if I had to pay to get in too! But I didn't and we went on our way. We were dropped off on a main road in Hanoi, but of course, Betsy and I had no idea where we were. We followed 2 Swedish guys to their hostel and used the phone there to contact our couchsurfing host. He gave us directions and his address, so off we went by cab to his house.

It was great to finally meet Lai,really nice guy and very laid back. He lives with his 2 brothers,his sister in law and niece. His father was presently in the hospital on some kind of special eating regime. Although I am not sure why as Lai's sister in law is a micro biotic cook and pretty much makes every thing herself and by hand.Anyway we went out to dinner, which Lai bought for us and then sat out by the lake near his house. Betsy was especially excited to drink out of a coconut. Who knew that this was her dream!!