glad to answer your question s, as i too had many doubts with with method.
yes, it was a full sized towel provided by the hotel.
i did one shirt at a time. did the burrito twice per shirt. the towel was a bit moist afterwards but i think i could still have dried another shirt. i am a very small person though so it could be different for bigger shirts.
travel towels are on the thinner side so am not sure if they can take as much moisture.
went on a trip to Taipei. not one bag, brought multiple bags because I planned to buy a lot of food to bring back to family. Taipei in July is very hot and humid, had to change my shirt around mid afternoon. i havent tried the towel drying method yet, figured it was a great time to test it. hand washed the 2 shirts I used, then rolled them up one by one. by the time i hung them up, they were no longer dripping. after ~8 hrs, they were completely dry and wrinkle-free. steps I took:
these were ordinary cotton shirts (Hanes, to be specific), i did not use travel shirts with specialized blends.
i can almost hear Maria trilling in the background. that is the Earthsea collection, right? lovely volume. my favorite among them is 'the tombs atuan'. thought i would not like it because of the single setting but the character development is superb.
thanks for sharing photos, and your observations. the moment backpack is one of the bags whose aesthetics, organization, and size i like. 17 L is perfect for minimal travel.
i am constantly on the lookout but have not bought anything for years. serious travel bags are expensive and id hate to be disappointed. my current rotation of thrifted and gifted bags have plenty of room for improvement but they suffice for now.
shattered pixel dungeon. it is the most fun i had with a dungeon crawler. i die too quickly with the classic ones. have played hundreds of rounds but havent won yet, not even once. still not tired of it though.
if a ~6h travel time is alright with you, i highly recommend Ha Giang City. it felt very rural for a provincial center. when i visited there years ago, the streets were very clean, cars, motorcycles, and people were sparse.
another great thing about Ha Giang City is that it is the gateway to more remote villages if you find the city too busy. just driving through Ha Giang Province was a delight, it was my first time passing through such expansive limestone structures.
the same can be said for many places nearer Hanoi. for example Ninh Binh, outside the more touristy area, has quiet towns dotted with limestone hills which make it seem like the land equivalent of Ha Long Bay.
in Hanoi itself, the most peaceful spot i visited was the Museum of Fine Arts. i really enjoyed taking in the paintings and sculptures there (and the quiet).
it can be a little challenging to talk with locals outside Hanoi because a lot of them do not speak English but i found most of them very helpful.
wishing you a great time there.
i have only been to the northern half of Vietnam (Nin Bihn, Hanoi, Quang Yen, Quang Ninh, Ha Giang, and Cao Bang) and enjoyed it thoroughly. someone i met who traveled there more extensively told me that she finds the southern cuisine more flavourful, the northern food is bland in comparison. as someone who was not exposed to the south, i liked northern food, found it refreshingly light.
have a wonderful trip.
A6 notebook + mechanical pencil are an indispensable part of my travel kit. i always worry that i will lose my phone at some point so important addresses are written there.
pen and paper can be very useful in places with a different language/writing system. there was a time i looked for a specific product that i had a difficulty describing. fortunately, i met a local who can speak english and asked him to write down the local name of the said product. it can be done on the phone but i find that older people are more comfortable writing with a pen and paper.
for everyday, i use my phone s native notes app for quick jots but still carry with me a notebook and pencil.