Hanoi

We arrived at our hotel at about one AM. The car stopped at the entrance of a dark, narrow street and we blindly followed, desperate for a place to sleep. We staggered up the five flights of stairs, getting dizzy on the spiral staircase. The room was small, but there were windows one two sides and a balcony on another side, making it appear larger than it was. I was awoken at six in the morning to roosters and the call to prayer from the temple across the street. It was nice to hear the melodic chanting again, but I wasn't so happy to have it at that hour of the morning!

When we headed to breakfast, I ordered bread and jelly, thinking they meant toast. But no, I got a nice large crusty loaf of bread to myself. After brushing off the crumbs and finishing the sweet coffee, we headed out into the street to buy much needed toiletries, reveling in the cheap prices. We skipped through the streets, past sidewalks crowded with street food, fruit sellers, drink sellers, and motorbikes. The streets of Hanoi are chaotic, there are a few cars, lots of rickshaws,  and hundreds of motorcycles. It is an adventure just crossing the street.

The days in Hanoi were rainy and the weather felt more like April or May instead of January. Flowers were in bloom and a fine mist of fires burning in the street (presumably a ritual for the new year) mixed with incense filled the air. It made being indoors unbearable, so we chose to avoid transportation and walk every where.

We walked to the Ngoc Son Temple. It is a small temple, but quite beautiful with it's bright red bridge contrasting with the mist and the light blue entrance way. The temple is surrounded by the Hoan Kiem Lake, giving beautiful views of the water and the city.  Here you can see the famous Hoan Kiem turtle (a giant preserved turtle). After visiting the temple we headed for the Ho Chi Mihn Mausoleum , the one pillar pagoda, and the outside of the Army Museum. Then we hit the nice tourist trap of the water puppet show. It was ok, nice to see, but it's a puppet show.

On our way back from one of these adventures, we stopped into a store to get drinks. We enquired about the drinks to an old lady, who looked up from her sewing or whatever she was doing. Matt and I jumped back about 100 feet and were rooted to the spot horrified. Her lips were sunk in and a dark red stain surrounded her mouth making her resemble an ancient vampire. She has obviously spent her life chewing betel leaves.