We were all woken up during the night by a thunder clap like I have never heard before. It sounded like it was from right on top of our hotel and reverberated down through the whole building. I'm not sure what time that was, but the storm continued for the rest of the night. When we walked down the 6 flights of stairs to the hotel lobby (none of us felt comfy about getting into the elevator), the water was up over both the street and the sidewalks and it was still raining. We had discovered a restaurant about 2 doors down from our hotel the first day we arrived and had gone to breakfast there the next day and wanted to go this day as well. We took our shoes in hand, hiked up pants and skirts and ventured out. By the time we got 2 doors down, we were drenched. The storm continued through breakfast and everytime there was a flash of lightening, followed by a thunder clap, the staff were under the tables and Kelly and I were clenching hands. It was like nothing I have ever experienced before. The restaurant owner took pity on us and uprooted one of his patio umbrellas to walk us back to the hotel with.
The photos really don't need any commentary.
We decided to take a taxi to the airport early because the main road to the airport had already been flooded and impassable so we thought it would be a good idea to go before we weren't able to get there at all. It took us about 4 times longer to get to the airport than it normally would have, but we were happy to be there at all. Our flight was only delayed by one hour and by the time it left, the storm had actually passed and the rain had stopped. That made us all feel much better. So...off we went to Hanoi.
