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Published: February 13th 2006
Cool Dude
I liked this man.Hanoi is brilliant! Plain and simple, yet it has the charm of a small European city with the craziness that is Asia. I stayed around the Hoan Kiem lake area. Really nice, filled with bustling markets and street side cafes. The first couple of nights I shared a room with a Polish dentist who taught me a thing or two about brushing teeth(like don't brush too hard, bc the plaque that can be removed will be removed with soft brushing, and hard brushing is bad for your gums, flossing is apparently really important or something like that, i was not paying attention. that's about all i got). The first day was awesome, I got this African Legend tshirt that I really wanted (saw it in Hue and was determined to find it here) Met this old Aussie guy that fought in the war, was given a rose, went to a jazz bar and then ended up getting belligerent with these English blokes I met. Next morning I went to this couples apt for brunch that I had met in Saigon. Went to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum where they have his bodied embalmed. Quite something. He is laying there with hands at
Water Puppets
Really beautiful, quite something. side in this amazing casket with 4 guards on duty at all times. There were thousands of people in line, mainly Vietnamese. Funny to think that he actually asked to be cremated! Also saw the one pillar Pagoda. Saw a cool water puppet show. Spent a lot of time by the lake, you see lots of old people there doing yoga. I have been eating so much peanut brittle over here. Oh it is so good. In Asia it is close to impossible to order a proper Manhattan. You see, rarely do they have sweet vermouth in bars and when they do they sure as hell don't have any bitters. Quite distressing at times. French people are everywhere here in Vietnam. The sex industry seems to be a lot less prominent than neighbouring countries. The Vietnamese in general do not like the Chinese at all. They eat a lot, i mean a lot, of noodle soup. Don't try to shake a womens hand in public. The coffee is amazing. Toilet paper often makes appearances in public toilets, rather exciting. All in all I loved Vietnam, good people, good food, easy peasy transport and all the peanut brittle you can eat!
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catolliver
non-member comment
Enjoy your blogs!
I've been following your travel blogs since Austria and enjoy them tremendously. I will be going on an around-the-world trip my self at the end of the year. But until then I guess I will have to live vicariously through you. What's been your favorite moment thus far?...Safe travels, man. Take care - Chris