2 hour flight. I have actually gone East from Yangshuo which was only hours from Vietnam border, in order to catch my scheduled flight from HK for Hanoi.
At Hanoi airport I try to log onto internet and book a hostel, no joy, but at least get the address.  Having managed to avoid the taxi touts I find the shuttle bus which is empty and waits another 25 minutes to pick up passangers and head for Hanoi. The driver is on the horn all the time even though looking  at the traffic, there is nowhere to go. The advantage of Vietnamese to Chinese is that you can actually rad the Vietnames since the alphabet (excluding the accents) is in English. At the terminus I get directions for the address I have and since I am reluctant to try the motor taxis I walk about 20 minuets to the hostel, pretty convenient location.
The beds are looking quite comrortable and the place is clean. $5 a night for dorm, cheaper by $.10 if booked online! I grab a shower and head down into the lobby to use the computer but end up chatting to couple of Scottish guys (Scott and Scott, easy to remember one name than two) about their travels through Cambodia and Thailand. They have been asked to teach in Cambodia so will be heading back to teach in a village for food and board.
There is free beer (very cheap here) between 8 and 10 p.m. but I manage to get some about 10.30. I am hungry but too tired to head out to get food.
I had some problems with paying for the computer on my credit card so in the morning I head for the post office to call and find that the shop had not followed the correct procedures for asking for authorisation from the credit card company.