Good Morning Vietnam!!

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Sin Chow,

Second day in Hanoi and starting to get used to the heat and chaos. The traffic here is mental and there are so many scooters and bikes! There seem to be no traffci rules other than occasionally stopping at red lights but people are very good natured when you walk out in fron of them! The people here are really friendly and most speak some English and they are very keen to have conversations. I am struggling with their accents though and have to ask the to repeat simple questions several times! We went to the Ho Chi Minh memorial today. They have embalmed his body and have it on display despite his wishes to be cremated and scattered around Vietnam. We also visited the Van Meiu Hanoi's most revered temple complex and the site of Vietnam's first uni, it also houses the primary Confucian sanctuary. We had lunch at a little street food place round the corner from the hotel. Our tour leader had explained what to ask for Bun Cha - but they didn't understand us! So, we just pointed to what other diners were eating and asked for that! It was delicious. Wandered round the market and picked up some delicious fruit - don't know what it's called - it's purple on the outside and when you peel of the fleshy peel there are white cloves (that look like garlic) - a bit like lychee but much more delicious. We were bargainig with the woman to only buy one fruit (she wanted to sell by the kilo)and then when we tatsed them they were so good we chipped in and bought a kg between us!! I think she thought we were a bit bonkers! Will post some pics of Hanoi tomorrow.

All in all, Hanoi has been a great intro to Vietnam and I am looking forward to exploring the rest of the country. Off for a little more exploring this afternoon and then to watch some water puppetry in the evening.

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