Digging out the warm clothes (Feb. 4/09 - Hanoi, Vietnam)

We left Hoi An behind us this morning, bound or the airport in Danang, 45 minutes north. The drive revealed another up and coming resort area, as big name hotels like Hyatt, Sheraton, and Crowne Plaza all had massive fenced off properties on the right side of the road that likely claims some pretty perfect stretches of beach. The flight up to Hanoi was quick and painless, and soon we were stepping out into the noticably cooler air and easing our way amidst the traffic into the central Old Quarter part of town. The shuttle bus dropped us about a block from the hotel we were aiming for, so we got our bearings on the curb to figure out where to go in the maze of narrow streets. As always, guys flocked to us wanting to take us anywhere on their motorbikes, or take this tour, or stay at this hotel. One guy was very persistent about pimping out his hotel, so we eventually named the place we were aiming for to make him lay off. We had to laugh when he pulled out the card of the same place - he was trying to convince us to go where we planned to anyway! We followed him through narrow streets and a vegetable market, then emerged onto a funky street packed with restaurants, travel agencies, shops, and hotels.

We ditched our gear and found some lunch before wandering around Hanoi for the rest of the day. A small lake is the centerpiece of this part of town, with willows framing the water and small temples rising from islands in the middle. The big orange sun was setting behind the city, and tourists seemed to be out in droves. Without enough time to get out to any of the specific recommended sights, we opted to zigzag up and down the streets, window shopping and perfecting our traffic dodging skills. It seemed as though each block was home to a particular variety of merchandise for sale - there was a shoe street, a bookstore street, an underwear street, a bunch of silk shop streets, and even a street with heaps of bulk Valentines Day chocolates piled on the sidewalk! We found a sweet little vegetarian cafe for dinner and then confirmed our plans for tomorrow to join a tour out to Halong Bay. It might be the first day since Africa that we wear long pants and fleeces in the morning!