Hanoi...City in Constant Motion

* Pictures from bottom to top

After a 9+ hour flight from Sydney we finally arrived at our luxurious hotel near the airport in Bangkok at midnight. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to enjoy the room for long before leaving on our 6.45 am flight to Hanoi, Vietnam.

After arriving in Hanoi, we met our driver at the airport and an hour later checked into our hotel in the 'new' section of the city. Since we had so few hours of sleep, we decided to take a nap for a couple of hours before venturing out for our first exploration of the old section of the city near Lake Hoan Kiem (picture 1). Once there we saw the famous water puppet show (stage shown in picture 2), learned to walk across the extremely busy streets without getting hit by the infinite number of motorcycles, bikes, cars, buses driving in no special order from all directions (picture 3), enjoyed a delicious dinner, then had after dinner drinks at the City View Cafe where we were able to view all the activity below (picture 4) . Since it was 'Victory Day' in Vietnam (their celebration of reunification of North and South 34 years ago) there were decorations, stages, and music in all areas of the city to enjoy.

By introduction of friends Jacque and Mike from Napa, we met our new friend Quynh. He lives in Hanoi with his family and operates a travel agency. He has been a wonderful resource - putting together our Vietnam and Cambodia itineraries, sharing information about the areas we plan to visit as well as guiding us to great places in the city to see and eat.

The next day we again walked and shopped in the winding streets of the old sections visiting various vendors, markets (picture 5) and sites including the Ngoc Son Temple on the Lake (picture 6) and Chuong Duong Bridge. Per Quyhn's suggestion we enjoyed authentic grilled pork and seafood spring rolls at one of the 'best restaurants' in Hanoi (picture 7). We also visited the Ho Chi Minn Mausoleum (picture 8) which was unfortunately closed, the Ho Chi Minn Museum (picture 9) and the adjacent one pillar pagoda (picture 10).

Tomorrow night we head north by overnight train to Sapa.