Hanoi we have arrived.

We left YVR on a cold Saturday morning at 1:40am. The 13 hour flight to Taipei filled us all with dread as we knew sleep would be a real challenge. This was the first time we have ever flown with China Airlines and we were pretty impressed with the airplane and the service. Anyway once on board we all fell asleep pretty fast. None of us had the dinner that was offered- 2am seemed like just the wrong time for a big meal. A few hours of sleep was had by all and then one movie later we landed in Taipei- that went way faster than we had thought it would. Taipei airport the place I like to call Hello Kitty World. Everything is so cute there. A brief 3 hour layover and we were on our final leg of the journey. Landing in Hanoi 3 hours later it was pretty hazy and a little cooler than we had thought, at around 20C. But this is just perfect for our winter bodies to adjust to, Our tour guide Vinny was there to great us, after a very quick passport stamp and luggage claim. We were on the road and marvelling at this city with over 12 million scooters. Our first sight was a woman on a scooter with at bags of goldfish all around her- what a site. An hour drive to our hotel was most interesting and downright crazy. We arrived in downtown Hanoi and our hotel the Anise and were able to check in and shower after what seems like days of travel. We left our houses on Friday night and it was now Sunday morning!

Freshened up we all started the walk through the old quarter down to the Hogan Kim Lake and all the action. We started off having to cross the scooter filled roads- they don’t stop for you. You have to just start walking and then scooters just weave and bob around you- it is nerve wracking to say the least. We ambled don’t to the lake taking in all the crazy sights and sounds and general chaos. What a city. We made it too the lake and the first stop was ice cream for everyone. They sell prescooped cones for $1US. We watched the Vietnamese version of hackey sack -with what appears to be a feathered bottle cap (?). We walked across the Cau The Huc bridge and took in all the crazy sights we could. Then we headed in to the tick of the old quarter and in search of beer corner. We found it- but perhaps it was too early as no-one was there. So we found a craft beer bar- ordered some Lumer Larger and watched the world pass by in all its amazing ness. I had no idea how much your could fit on a scooter or a bicycle for that matter- entire families, entire stores too! After a chilled our beer and snack. We walked the tiny alley ways in the rain that had decided to make an appearance to the Dong Xuan Market. This 4 story market is bigger than you can imagine- I have never seen so many different types of shoes, hats, wallets, fabric and well just anything you can imagine. It was too much for us we left without a thing. So overwhelming! We made our way back down to the lake and started a dinner search- we had a few duds and then happened on the “Little Hanoi” cheap and cheerful is what we were looking for. They covered all the Vietnam eats your could want- we had Pho, Ban Cha, Bhan Mi and were all stuffed. By this time it was only 6: 30pm, bu it was all we could do to keep our eyes open. We walked back to the hotel- about a 30 minute walk, dodging scooters, cars and only tripping on one dead rat! What a day- our brains and senses are in overdrive. Early to bed and tomorrow should be a good adventure filled day to look forward to!