Gooooood Morning Vietnam!!!!!!

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Hanoi is amazing. So far its Lees favourite place .. Michelle's still holding a candle for Vientiane in Laos.

Hanoi is Vietnam's capital, it was occupied by the French for over 50 years. It's really difficult to put the city into words, With its mazy colonial streets in the old quarter, the aromas of incense and fresh coriander from the street markets, the busy Vietnamese street life that seems to happen all around you and the pure pulse of the city captivates you each time you step outside of your guesthouse.

We spent 5 nights in the city. Our days were rather chaotic after coming from a relaxed Laos. There are so many sights from historic museums to fine art and literature to see. We took the first couple of days taking everything in. Chinese new year was still in full swing and on our 2nd day we stumbled across a procession around the beautiful Hoan Kiem Lake. We were actually on our way to the Thai embassy to sort our visas but didn't make it!!

The parade was endless. We think that each tribe/village was represented by a few dancers/singers/musicians/shrine yielding/children/dragons (you get the picture right!??) and marched in a long line. It was quite a spectacle. Each dressed in different colours and fabrics, we took so many pictures we could of wrote a whole blog about it!!!

Streets at night shift into social affairs .The Vietnamese people like nothing better than stopping off at anyone of the millions of soup kitchens/noodle bars set up anywhere and everywhere. Back in the UK if you want to open a restaurant I can imagine how much 'red tape' there is, but here all you need is pots, pans and a few plastic stools. Its seems like as the sun sets and the locals eat, the world gets put to right!

We did the usual tourist thing in Hanoi and visited the world famous water puppet show. It was fully booked so we opted for 2nd class afternoon tickets. The puppeteers are trained solid for 3 years before they even consider getting a job here. We enjoyed the show, it lasted for an hour with various sketches and some excellent local music.

The following day we headed for the War museum which Lee was really excited about (you could tell from his frantic walking pace!) but after arriving at 11.31am and reading in the guidebook 20 seconds later that it closed at 11.30am, we headed off in a random direction and managed to get lost under a cloud of frustration. Luckily enough we bumped into a large crowd gathering outside a small entrance which after a few flicks of the guidebook we discovered Quoc Tu Giam. Its a very spiritual place which hosts a small pond the Vietnamese throw money into (we joined in) It pays host to 82 stone tortoises created between 1483 and 1780 (yes we had to google those dates!) which locals also leave money to pay respect.

The war museum the following day (!!) was very informative, and we both got to see first hand some tanks, big guns, jeeps, jet fighters, large bomb casings, oh .. and we read some history as well! To be honest we found some of the literature a little .... biased. You can appreciate what Vietnam has been through and you can understand the feelings of people affected (around 5 MILLION Vietnamese died) but when every gun, tank etc you pass has a little plaque stating how many Americans it killed, and how the people who used the gun were heroes, it almost felt like the true story was not being told.

We have really enjoyed our time in Hanoi but have to move on!! Our next stop is back up and east a little to the magical Halong bay to do a cruise and stop on a boat for a night.

Will update you soon,
Lee and Michelle


Our favourite bits about Hanoi

*Stopping off for a 12p glass of beer and sitting with the locals in one of the many Bia Hoi's on endless street corners
*The smell of Hanoi (anyone who has been will know what we mean) - in a good way
*Street life in general around the 'Old Quarter'
*The excellent 'real' fake meat, you can order from tofu restaurants, its sooooo nice! But cold!
* Hoan Kiem lake
*The War museum

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Comments

[mum]

hope you are both ok all ok at home we are having a lot of snow and it is very cold you both look well miss you loads love mum