Said my goodbyes this morning and got driven to the airport free by a friend of Thanhs. I ended up giving him the Aussie gold coins from my wallet and that made him very happy. I am sure he didn't expect anything so that made it better.
Flying to Hanoi I couldnt help but think of those American pilots who made the same trip 40 years ago, including Senator John McCain who spent some time in the prison here . I will go and see it tommorow. 
 At the airport a man hailed me, $20 to the city in a private car. Being ultra cautious after hearing Hanoi horror stories I went to the Info counter and checked and found it was a lot cheaper than a taxi. The guy, whose name I didn't get was a private operator for a transport company. Flying under the radar probably. He was a really nice bloke and spoke reasonable English, but he texted as he drove. Hanoi airport is out in the sticks, I think 45 k from the city and the roads were almost empty until we hit the burbs. I was surprised at my first impressions. I had heard many stories about unfriendly people and really bad traffic but so far these have been unfounded. Even the lady who tried to sell me a Good Morning Vietnam T-shirt was smiling and happy and ready for a chat. She started at 100,000 and went down to 80,000 but unbeknowns to her I hate that film and I hate Robin Williams so there was no way I was going to buy it. She said she had been walking the street for 6 hours and had sold nothing. Lifes hard here.
Went for a walk in the rain to whet my appetite and within a few twists and turns I was lost. I stopped and asked a lady where Ma May street was, and believe me, Ma May is pronounced the way it looks. It turned out I was one street away but she didn't know, or was she being an unfriendly Hanoian?
Dinner at a westernised restaurant the Tamarind and it was disappointing.
Sorry for the paucity of the pics and sorry for the Groucho Marx lookalike. My left eyebrow went north because of the accident, at least that's my excuse.