Getting up to speed in Hanoi

It doesn't take long in Vietnam to realise the locals have a fairly flexible idea of "fixed price", "best price" and "discount for you". It seems a country that quickly finds out the inexperienced or exhausted traveller. With the wrong attitude the constant discoveries that you have paid more than your fellow hotel guests, tour party or diners might be wearing. Fortunately Hanoi is such a captivating, bustling and exotic city that it is hard for grievances to persist. The road-side food and drink is cheap (80p for noodle soup and 60p a pint), and much of the entertainment is free. Shops and market stalls are as colourful and fascinating as any I've seen, and just walking through the buddhist paraphernalia street or the live fish district could easily take up a day or two. Another favourite pasttime is the SE Asian classic of finding the more outrageous cargo you can on the back of a bike. The drive to the airport yielded a handful of great examples seen here, but my favourite was a live cow, which a travelling companion saw perched serenely on the back of a Honda. A speciality of Vietnam, though, is crossing the road. The game is to find the busiest, most chaotic stretch of road you can, and step out directly into the evening rush hour traffic and cross the road slowly as the motorcycles whizz in front and behind you, expertly making just enough space for you to pass. The only rule, make no sudden changes in direction, seems to keep you safe, and the whole experience is more fun than running the gauntlet of bicycle couriers jumping the lights in London.