I only stayed one night in Hanoi . . . it warrants a longer visit.
Another time!
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| I found a nice hotel room with a little balcony overlooking the street. |
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| The view. |
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| The church. Locked up for now. |
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| I just liked how that moto was rigged. |
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| Found one Larry! But I was too full to have a taste. |
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| He’s got the whole world in his hands. |
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| Leading to the Jade Island (on the northern end of the lake). |
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| A common site in SE Asia (outside temples and at private altars). |
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| Thinking of you, Teri! |
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| Not sure what those ball things were. |
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| Went to the 5 p.m. show after arriving at 4:15 ! Thanks for the tip, Jane. |
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| Didn’t buy one . . . |
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| So many Vietnamese children are eager to practice their English. |
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| A touch of Hawaii. |
And that’s all of Hanoi.
It’s an amazingly vibrant (i.e. busy) city.
I arrived there first on the 29th of September, just in time to share a minivan from the airport into the old city with 9 other travelers (and meet the connection for the night train to Sapa).
Next, I arrived early one morning by train. How early? Around 4:45 a.m.! Yep, that’s early! The nice and quiet German family (with whom I shared the compartment) didn’t disturb me in my sleep. When I got up and looked outside (as they quietly whispered and took their time collecting their things), I saw that practically everyone had left the train! I grabbed my two backpacks and handbag and made like a banana. Rather than a taxi, I decided to take a moto (scooter) to the street where I was to be at 8 a.m. for the trip to Ha Long Bay. Almost nothing was open! But thank goodness it was only almost; I spied a hostel on the same narrow road in the old city that looked open. As I was giving my *20,000 Vietnamese Dong (yes, Dan, you read that right) to the driver, I heard a voice call out, “So you decided to take a moto!?!” It was the husband of the nice Israeli couple I had shared the train compartment with on the way to Sapa, and with whom I had hiked one of the two days.
“What are you guys doing here?”
“We’re checking in to this hotel.” (There was a nice hotel adjacent to the hostel.)
Cool! After I stowed my bags with their luggage, we three took off on a short walk to the lake; together we eyed the many people exercising–even saw a group doing laugh yoga! They lingered, and I headed on to my rendezvous for Ha Long Bay.
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* Sj *
How cool is that – to run into someone you knew with whom you could discover a new place? Love the synchronicity!