Hanoi, Vietnam (new country)

We decided to skip the 24hr bus ride into Vietnam from Laos and took the plane. 1 ½ hour later (terrific), we arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam (capital of the north). Some 9 million people, and I think everyone rides a scooter. It is CRAZY TRAFFIC here, sheesh. And we thought Bangkok was crowded. We grabbed a taxi with our new friends Francisco and Johanna (from Geneva, Switzerland) and headed to our hotel. Geez, did I mention there’s a lot of traffic here. I’ve never tried crossing a street and just walking real slowly across and letting the traffic of scooters just flow around you. No stop lights, no stop signs, no divider lines, just free flowing traffic, never-ending day and night. Something to get used to, that’s for sure.

Hanoi is the capital of the Socalist Republic of Vietnam. It's a city of lakes, shaded boulevards, embassies and holy shrines dedicated to the late, great Ho Chi Minh.   The attractive center of Hanoi is built around Hoan Kiem Lake.  Just to the north of the lake is the "Old Quarter" which is the area we stayed.  Lots of narrow streets and tourists all seem to base themselves around here.

Hanoi as well became our base, as we planned tours to Halong Bay and the city of Sapa from here. Both are about 3 hours from Hanoi and pretty much require a planned tour guide to really experience these areas. More on these coming soon.

Hanoi Highlights

• Cool city but I don’t think we’re big fans of this much congestion.

• Thang Long Water Puppets Theatre Show (pretty cute and something to see, wish our nieces Grace and Abbie could have been with us for this, puppets would dance and perform on top of the water and squirt and splash around)

• Great dinners out with our new friends: Paul and Emily, and Franciso and Johanna (best times)

• Amazing Pork Ribs at our favorite lunch place “New Day Café”

          o Address: 72 Ma May (in the Old Quarter), a must visit, seriously good, seriously cheap

• Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum

• The city lake in the Old Quarter (beautiful)

• Learning to navigate every intersection as swarms of scooters work around you.

OK, more posts coming soon, lots of amazing experiences in Halong Bay and Sapa and Vietnam.

Shout out to my brother Brent, for being such a good dad and taking his two great daughters to the 1950's style Daddy Daughter Dance this past weekend in KY!  We know they had fun.