Day 3 - 11/07/25

 After the previous night’s shenanigans I didn’t manage to get out of bed until 1pm. Hangovers in Vietnam seem to be especially worse as the beer is so cheap that you always end up drinking too much, and since you spend all night crouched down on a tiny chair, all your muscles are in throbbing pain too. Luckily it was nothing that a good banh mi couldn’t fix!

We then went to the Ho Chi Minh museum, dressed more appropriately this time, but unfortunately it was closed on Fridays! Instead we went to Hoa Lo prison, which was initially used by the French to imprison Vietnamese revolutionaries, and was later used by the North Vietnamese to imprison captured American troops, earning it the ironic nickname of Hilton - Hanoi. After this, Dan and I had a late lunch and I had my very first authentic Vietnamese pho!

Dan left after finishing his meal, but I decided to stay by myself to enjoy a few beers and soak in the Hanoi street life. Since it was a bit cooler than the previous day, I decided to take the 30 minute walk back to our flat. I was so immersed in the hustle and bustle that I accidentally walked straight past it and had to turn back!

Later that evening we explored the Night Market of Hanoi and eventually found ourselves on beer street. Before coming to Vietnam many people had told me about how crazy beer street was but I don’t think anything could have prepared me for what it was like! The street was absolutely full of drunk people, loud thumping dance music and bright neon lights. The beer girls each sold a specific brand and would all scramble to try and sell you their brand (I decided to go for Tiger). I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of fistfights broke out between them! When I asked where the toilet was, a kid working there (who wouldn’t have been older than 11) pointed me to the kitchen. Thinking there had been a mistranslation, I asked someone else who also pointed me to the kitchen. It turns out in this bar you had to walk through this dirty kitchen, past the chefs cooking large broths, to get to the toilet. If anybody reading this is squeamish, I don’t recommend reading the next paragraph!

A man came along who was a fire breather, which seems to consist of pouring petrol into your mouth and then blowing it all  through a flame. This man even started extinguishing the flame in his mouth and even in his pants. Then, 45 minutes later, a second man came along who was also a fire breather. Seeing as we had already seen one, we weren’t too interested. That was when the fire breathing section of his performance ended. First, he managed to stick 3 knives that were about 15cm long entirely  down both of his nostrils. When he did this I was so surprised that I accidentally spilt my beer all over my friend Emily. He wasn’t done there though, as he placed a metal disc with a long chain inside his eyelid, then attached the chain to a bucket and started lifting it with his eyelid. The group of Chinese tourists next to us look mortified. Having seen enough, we decided to head home.

I really enjoyed this day in Hanoi, and although I was leaving the next day, I was really starting to understand why everyone who goes to Vietnam never shuts up about it afterwards!