Day 4 1/2 Vietnam

The overnight train towards Saigon is a journey all its own. We walk from our hotel to the station and arrive early. What we think is some official showing us our car is a tricky trickster. He demands money from us as he puts us in the wrong sleeper car. Gesturing at his ID card. Eventually we pay the guy about 2 dollars so he will leave. We’re not used to this trickery and we have made peace with the small little scams that are everywhere. Our sleeper car sleeps 6. It’s full when we leave and nobody but dawn and I speak English.

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Last day in Hanoi – Day 4

We walked past the lady selling egg sandwiches on the corner just about everyday. Today we stopped and now I know where to get the best egg sandwich / banh mi anywhere. The last day anywhere is a mixture of excitement to see more and sadness that we are leaving.

We ate lunch at another place passed daily on our way somewhere less impressive. It takes spending a couple days in a place to see what’s right under your nose. Amazing pho, and some other beef noodle bowl of goodness was ours for the taking. We walked to the park ate mangos, watched children play, and brides take photos. We chatted with a man on the sidewalk about where we were from and where he lived before hanoi. People are social here.

The preparations for the tet are in full force. Every park is being planted with bright flowers. The public spaces are being lit festively. Signs are going up structures built and people seem generally excited. Read the rest of this entry »

Hanoi day three

I’m up at 4 with the church bells. It’s hard to sleep sometimes. Usually dawn is the one who can’t sleep I guess on this side of the world it’s my turn. It’s a beautiful church. I lie in bed until 7 and then we head out and eat at the kangaroo cafe. Lots of Aussies here so lots of Aussie businesses.

Eating baked beans with eggs, fries, toast, and bacon seems strange. It’s easily the heaviest thing I’ve had.

We walk past the lake and check out the women’s cultural museum. We don’t go inside but it looks cool from the street. We walk past the French quarter and the other tourists thin out a bit. Walking around with Dawn is great people stare and I catch them guiltily looking away and then stealing another glance. She is stunning so I’m not jealous. A child is so taken with dawn he has to walk up and talk to her. He gets in trouble with his teacher but you can tell it was totally worth it.

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Hanoi day two

Riding a scooter in Hanoi is and should be its own national sport. Jostling for position amongst the cabs and busses that fill the streets takes balance percision and skills beyond the mere mortal skills most have. I personally wouldn’t have tried if I hadn’t been born on two wheels. I grew up in the BMX age and this looks fun.

We got up and went to a western breakfast which consisted of eggs, pancakes, dumplings, fruit. Amazing super ripe beautifully cut and manicured fruit. Oohhhh sooo good. Topped off with some of the best coffee I’ve ever had and we were off and running into the day with full bellies and happy hearts.
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Vietnam – day 1

The city wakes up at 6:30 you hear a couple people at first then a torrent of scooters, voices and the sound of makeshift food vendors setting up for the day. It’s a place and a people that aren’t afraid of hard work. We get up at 7 and can’t sleep to excited to see it. To go out and fumble our way through the first, well the first everything.
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