Let's dance the dolls again in HANOI

Back in Hanoi, we only had one more evening in Vietnam before flying back to Thailand.

We spent the rest of the evening with a small photoshoot on the train tracks, at the night market, at street food stalls, and finally it was time to see the legendary Thang Long Water Puppet Theater. We had already bought the tickets a week before because on our last visit to Hanoi everything was completely sold out... So definitely book in advance if you plan to go! Hanoi is famous for these water-resistant wooden puppets in various sizes and shapes, lovingly painted.

The performance was of course in Vietnamese, but at least you got a translation of the titles of each act. Mostly, the rural life of the population was depicted, spoken by a few people and accompanied by an orchestra with traditional instruments. You can imagine the theater a bit like a puppet theater, where the puppeteers are behind a curtain, only here they stand in the water all the time. Photos were not allowed during the performance without permission. Overall, a very funny spectacle that you can experience for about €4 per person ;)

Afterwards, we had to pack our bags again (this time following the rules for the plane) until late at night. After a few hours of sleep, we struggled out of bed again, had breakfast, and walked to the train station, where the bus picked us up and took us to the airport. Check-in, spend the last Vietnamese dong on food, and then the boarding started again. We were already annoyed by the Vietnam song during the second flight with Vietjetair, but it is a young, nice airline that made the almost two-hour flight to Bangkok bearable. We looked out the window with nostalgia and said goodbye to a wonderful and diverse country.

Vietnam, you have enchanted us, we will come back!

Arriving in Bangkok was not as easy as we thought to get to Khao San Road by metro and bus, where our night bus to Koh Tao, an island in southeastern Thailand, was supposed to depart. But eventually we made it, even though this huge city of Bangkok stressed us out a bit... So until the bus departure, there was nothing else to do than eat, drink, and chill.

The journey was uncomfortable but bearable until we were dropped off at the pier for the ferry at 4:30 a.m. Now we had to wait for a good 3 hours while it was raining heavily... We hadn't imagined the last week of relaxation on the islands like this, but at least the weather forecast for the next few days was better. At 7:30 a.m., it was time to check in for the ferry. Due to the rain, there were big waves and on the hour-long journey with the catamaran, one person after another felt sick... I really felt sorry for the people, but luckily we were fine. After a total of 24 hours of travel from Hanoi to Koh Tao, we finally arrived at our guesthouse.