Hanoi

I made it to Vietnam. And I'm a fan. People compared Hanoi to Delhi, but I don't see the comparison. Yes, it's also a very busy city and yes, you need to always be on the lookout when walking and crossing streets as there are motorbikes everywhere. But it's way cleaner, men aren't pissing on the side of the streets and hocking loogies, and people that are trying to sell you things are not in your face constantly. So it's sort of a relief to be here.

I only have about a week here unfortunately. I met some people in India that had driven a motor bike from one end of the country to the other. Which sounded kind of amazing. I'd like to think I'm adventurous, but it sounded a bit daunting. But seeing so many people on their motorbikes in Hanoi would give me a little bit of confidence. Although trying to avoid an accident would get a bit stressful. Well I'm not driving from one end of the country to the other, but I will be enjoying my short stay here as much as possible.

Parking lot for the motorbikes.

I thought about doing a day trip from Hanoi and there were some good options, but I was just too tired from 2 days of overnight travel. And unlike Delhi, I can find a lot of places to camp myself at, people watch, and take it all in, all while enjoying a cold beverage. I'm staying at a nice place in the Old City. It's called a hostel, but definitely more along the lines of a hotel. Maybe the name was lost in translation. I did have to switch rooms after the first night since they technically upgraded me the first night, but it worked out since my friend Pam was joining me!

Flower petals to welcome me.

The first thing I did when I arrived, was go get food. And I was successful in getting a yummy bahn mi, a baguette style sandwich. I also had to try some local beer, which actually turned out to not be local. It was Tiger and from Singapore. Oh well, since I'm not planning on going there, I'll at least drink the beer. I did end up trying some actual Vietnamese beer later on.

Bahn Mi 25.

I also found a super cute cafe, called Post-It Note. There were post-it notes all over the place. It was pretty great. I enjoyed a refreshing lemon juice (lemonade?) and tried to cool off a bit. I also was taking advantage of having a place to sit down and chill for a while. There haven't been too many of those recently and I took advantage. 

Post-it notes everywhere.

Running in Hanoi is also enjoyable. There's Ho Hoan Kiem less than half mile from the hotel, and another, much larger lake in the opposite direction about the same distance. There weren't as many people out running, but since there are so many walkers, and other people doing some sort of exercise, it's nice to be out there. There are so many groups of older women stretching, doing exercises, and dancing. It's amazing. The smaller lake is about 1 mile around, but that wasn't going to be enough for my long run. So I made my way to the much larger West Lake, which was around 8 or 9 miles around. Which is kind of crazy when you think that it's in the middle of a city. And there's a path and road all around it. At one point it did break off into another smaller lake and I got turned around, but a transplant from Mississippi got me in the right direction. 

Ho Hoan Kiem.

On Saturday, Pam arrived! So exciting. I love traveling by myself and have met so many great people. But so thrilled to have a friend join me for a part of my trip. She came in from China from her work trip, so luckily it was a short flight and she wasn't jet-lagged (or at least didn't seem like it). We spent the afternoon catching up on a cute balcony overlooking a busy street with some beverages. So not only did a friend come visit, but she brought me items that I ordered from home. Most importantly my phone. Boy am I glad I have a small handheld device again. Of course I had to download all my apps, but I'm happy to have a working phone again.  

Catching up.

We spent some time wandering around Hanoi and eating. And people watching. Hanoi is a great spot to people watch. You pull up a tiny stool or chair wherever you may be getting food, whether it's pho or ice cream, and sit back and relax. 

People watching.

Next stop is Halong Bay.