Hanoi doesn\'t just hand itself over to you on day one. Give it a single day, and you\'ll walk away with some blurry mix of scooter horns, incense smoke drifting out of doorways, and coffee so strong it kind of startles you. Give it three or four days, though, and things click into place. The Old Quarter\'s madness stops feeling random; there\'s actually a rhythm to it. And that lake in the middle? Stops being a photo spot and turns into something you just walk past a few times a day without thinking twice. Working out the right Hanoi itinerary really just comes down to how many days you\'ve got and how fast (or slow) you like to move.