Day 2 - Hanoi

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Hanoi is such a sensory overload that you might think you're fine during the day, but then when evening comes along your head starts pounding from the plethora of smells, sounds and sights.

So, on the morning of the 2nd day I slept late and then took a taxi to the airport to fetch Claire. Was great seeing her; now our trip can really kick off.

The heat was again sweltering and the humidity off the chart. We booked her in, she slept a bit and then we went for a walk through the old quarter. Ate at a tourist trap next to Hoan Kiem Lake.

Here follows a piece I copied from wikipedia about the legend of the lake:

"According to the legend, emperor Lê Lợi handed a magic sword called Heaven's Will which brought him victory in his revolt against the Chinese Ming Dynasty back to the Golden Turtle God (Kim Qui) in the lake and hence gave it its present name (the lake was formerly known as Luc Thuy meaning "Green Water"). The Tortoise Tower (Thap Rùa) standing on a small island near the centre of lake is linked to the legend."

They actually have an embalmed turtle in the temple/pagoda (there are 2 small islands on the lake and one has a pagoda on it) which was quite impressive. Saw a wedding couple posing for photos in and around the pagoda next to people praying and lighting incense.

The rest of the day was much the same as the previous. Heat, sweat, random smells, noise, good food, smiling people, etc.

Claire felt sick and we think she got something from a girl she works with back in Oz. Hope I don't catch it from Claire. Went to bed with a headache...

I will post photo's in the days to come, because the computers are very slow and loading them from the camera takes ages. I will try to post photo's every 5th day or so.

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