Manila Posted from Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines.

Posted from tp. Huế, Thua Thien-Hue, Vietnam.

As soon as Annemarie had booked this hotel she emailed to enquire about picking us up from the train station (we expected to arrive in Hanoi at 5:15am). They emailed stating they couldn’t but told us what taxi company to look for and how much it should cost. Quite helpful we thought. Upon arrival (the train was 2 hours late) it was still before 8 am, but we were given a room (not made up) for us to drop our bags, quick shower and get changed. We were also OK to have the breakfast (normal hotels would’ve charged). The breakfast was good and filling. By the time we had eaten our room had been made up. In addition, the guy at reception had asked what we were doing in Hanoi and afterwards, and we said about Halong Bay. The hotel also organises tours, but charged a fair bit more than we had paid. He was very surprised at how little we had paid and asked if he could take our details and ring the ship to confirm our booking was genuine and we hasn’t been scammed. I was skeptical as to his motives, wondering if he was going to tell us it was a fake and we should cancel, get a refund and book with him. Well, he contacted us not long after and told is we were booked, it was genuine and we had got a very good deal. At this point we were very happy with the hotel. We handed a bag of laundry to be washed. The charge is per kilo and it was weighed at just under 4kg. More than expected. This evening whilst talking to another person behind reception we mentioned it weighing more than expected, he checked and it weighed just under 3kg. The weight the lady had used in the morning was defective he told us, and showed it with no weight and already at 1kg. They had found the scale was defective and had ordered a new scale that day. Was he been helpful (we were on the verge of booking a day tour with him) or was he genuine? We have three days in Hanoi, but could skip a few less interesting bits and do it in two. With that in mind we looking at tours offered by the hotel. One in particular looked good, to Tam Coc. $45 (each) plus drinks and a few tips. Pushing our budget so we said we’d go and think about it. Later, after considering it we decided no, if we keep spending and doing so many tours we’ll run out of money before...