Hanoi, Vietnam

Kristina and I arrived in Hanoi on Sunday morning (via cheap-ish flight). We had the day to get oriented and booked ourselves the trip to Halong Bay. After the trip we had another couple of days...

The last two days in Hanoi, Kristina and I spent with two friends from our Halong Bay trip--one from London and the other from Vancouver. We've been staying at a comfortable but inexpensive guesthouse in the Old Quarter.

What we did:

• Explored the Old Quarter district


• Eaten fabulous local specialties


• Saw the last five minutes of a traditional water puppet show


• Visited a few temples and museums


• Discovered all sorts of other interesting daily activities of locals in the area

What we ate:

• Pho (rice noodle soup with beef tendoins)


• Bun (vermicelli noodles with vegetables and fish sauce)


• Eel dish


• Spring rolls


• Fresh pineapple


• Coconut ice cream pops (w/ real coconut!)


• Many dishes unintentionally ordered (most of which were a delightful surprise, but a couple that were less than welcome; for example, soups with beef parts--think rocky mountain oysters)

As of tonight my travelling companions have all left for their next destinations. I will have one more day here, before taking the Reunification Express (train) south, back to Saigon.