We arrived by night train from Nanning across the border to Hanoi (Gia Lam). At night we had to get out of the train twice with all our luggage and through the respective customs control. For the time being, we entered Vietnam without a visa. The date for 15 days of stay from entry was stamped on the passport. We have requested an extension to 30 days in our hostel. The passports go to the Immigration Department and will hopefully return to the hostel in about 3 business days. As long as it has to work without a passport or with a copy of it.
We also bought Sim cards for our smartphones and booked two excursions. All about our hostel ( Golden Time Hostel 3) where Judy from the reception advised us very competently and friendly in English. We have also taken off several million Vietnamese dong. Course 1,000,000 Dong = 37.80 Euro. Here is almost every millionaire! Only the 5th ATM worked with our VISA Card. Other tourists did the same. At HSBC Bank, you can use up to 8million. Dong per booking. In other institutes only 2 – 3 mill.! Hanoi is lively and warm (28 degrees). After a shower and "tyre change" on sandals we strolled through the city center. In the evening we were eating on the rooftop of a restaurant. At a happy hour beer we got to know a nice Austrian couple and had a good conversation. You will also travel through Asia for 6 months.
Silke