My first experience travelling outside of Europe
and my first experience of Asia which proved
to be a life-changing experience.
HANOI CITY:
I really had no idea what to expect when I arrived in Hanoi.
I had been told to prepare for an “eye-opening experience”
whatever that entailed. 2 years later and I still struggle to
put into words what was going through my mind on my first
day. The best way I can describe Hanoi is like London but
100x busier and hotter. We arrived mid-August, at the height
of tropical season, meaning the temperatures didn’t drop
below 40c most days, combined with the humidity which felt
as though you were constantly sat in a sauna. This is not a
country to visit if you are frightened of thunderstorms! The
storms in Hanoi were unlike anything I had ever seen/heard
before. The city is mostly split into different quarters, with the
Old Quarter being the tourist hotspot, you rarely find tourists
in any other quarter as the rest are where locals and expats
live. Most tourists wouldn’t necessarily know about the other
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