Hanoi

Hanoi is the busiest city I've been in since Bangkok. Maybe even more so. The most scooters honking horns than I've ever seen and heard before.

Yesterday morning I slept in until 11am. Just couldn't be bothered trying to wake up early after the bus ride from Vientiane.

My hotel in Hanoi has free, fast internet, so I spent most of my morning posting a few pictures to some previous entries. It's a smidgen of the photos I've been taking, but at least it's a glimpse into what I've been seeing and doing. A big thank you to my friend Stiles for helping me get them on the net.

Once everyone else was awake we went to the Kangaroo Cafe for a light lunch of western food. It was a restaurant/adventure tour shop, so we began looking into boat trips around Halong Bay and Catba Island.

James and Nick had to head off to the airport to meet a couple old college friends that were flying in from Bangkok, so Enda, Olly, and I went off exploring the city.

We walked past the first ATM machine I've seen in over two weeks on our way to the Temple of Literature. It was a very Chinesey courtyard in memory of influential Vietnamese poets, teachers, and philosophers. Very impressive.


Front gate of the Temple of Literature

The Temple of Literature is divided into several courtyards full of ancient trees and lots of greenery. Each courtyard was slightly different in decoration.


Enda in the courtyard


Old man taking a rest in one of the courtyards

Maybe the third of fourth courtyard down had a short concert by some Vietnamese women dressed in traditional clothing playing a variety of bamboo instruments and singing songs.


Vietnamese traditional instrument

For a finally to the 15min concert the women walked through the audience and placed large straw hats on certain members. My friend Olly was one of the chosen ones. Pure comedy.


Olly wearing a lampshade

After the show the women invite all the guests to have a look at some CDs and other souvengniers at a small table next to the stage. One of the women got a bit fussy with me when I didn't buy anything, but I didn't let it get me down.

We walked back to the Ho Hoan Kiem Lake for a cold drink at one of the many sidewalk cafes, and afterwards we met the two Irish girls (Susan & Michel) that were on our bus ride from Vientiane.


View of the Thap Rua (Tortoise Tower) located in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake

The five of us went walking through the Old Quarter of the city shopping around for different boat tours. It was difficult because there are many travel agencies offering similar package tours, so we consulted the Lonely Planet Guide Book. That made thing even more complicated because if the guide book recommends one agency by name, all other agencies in the area change their name to capitalize on the publicity. Scam after scam.

In the end we walked back to our guest house to meet James, Nick, and their two friends Andy and Emma. We all had a chat and decided to go with the package tour offered by our guest house because it was the easiest option.

Our group then went out for a few drinks and some good eats. We ended up in the Jazz Club that had a really hot local Vietnamese jazz band tearing it up on stage. I had a nicely prepared meal of stir-fried shrimp with cashew nuts and dried chilies and some spring rolls to boot. Very tasty.


Jazz Club by Quyen Van Minh

After dinner we all headed back to the guest house to get a good nights sleep and prepare for the next three days around Halong Bay and Catba Island. Should be very nice and relaxing.