Vietnam - Part I: Hanoi

B & I are back from holidays so it's time to recap.  Our first stop was the capital city of Vietnam, the very busy and noisy city of Hanoi, which turns 1000 years old this year.

Hoan Kiem Lake borders The Old Quarter, where we spent most of our four days.  The Old Quarter is made up of a number of streets, many which are named according to their trade, such as 'shoe street' (in Vietnamese, of course) selling mostly, shoes.  The Vietnamese are masters of copying anything and everything - fine art, clothes, shoes so of course we ended up buying a few of each.

As I was looking forward to a little R&R on my holiday, I can't say Hanoi offered that.  The city is full of traffic with motorcycles, bicycles, cars, trucks and buses EVERYWHERE, tooting horns and not really stopping for anyone coming in any direction.  Unbelievably, we never saw an accident here which is due to the fact that everyone rides at about 40 km/hr, so slowing down and avoiding other vehicles is easy.  That being said I would never drive here!

Whatsoever, we did hitch rides with motorcycle taxis on many occasions!  There are always a few locals on corners waiting for you to give them a few Dong to take you where you need to go; cheaper than a taxi and a lot more fun!   

We visited The Temple of Literature, one of worlds first universities and where Confucius taught, The War Museum, One Pillar Pagoda and did a lot of walking, eating and shopping.  The city was hot and humid most days so eating and drinking was a good way to cool off, it didn't hurt that the food was delicious as well.

After four days in Hanoi I started getting desperate for a swimming pool....