I backpacked through Vietnam way back in 2012. Looking back now, I didn’t exactly fall in love with its capital city of Hanoi, but as one of the last stops on our Vietnamese vacation I suppose it does hold some nostalgic value for me.

It was the only time I’ve ever been to a water puppet show. I remember having a brilliant time at the water puppet show at Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre in Hanoi, partly because I’ve already blogged about it, but also because it was just so ridiculously different to any theatre I’ve been to before.

We also visited Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, which is something I try not to remember when I’m bed at night, trying to ease myself to sleep. We also saw his presidential palace, and the cabin he stayed in when he was alive.

And I remember that the food in Hanoi was very good, as it is in most cities in Vietnam. Because we’d already spent several weeks in Vietnam, we’d long gotten over our fear of ordering from a street-food vendor by the time we got there, so almost everything was on the menu.

Finally, one of the first things that comes to mind, looking back at these old photos of Hanoi, is of our first morning there. We’d caught the sleeper bus overnight, and arrived insanely early in the morning, feeling cold and tired, desperately wanting to sleep but being unable to because no hostels were open at that time.

So if we look a bit tired in these photos, you’ll know why.