The sounds and smells of Hanoi swirl and spin, motorbikes lined up eight across the street, incessant honking, the flash of color and light and sparkle igniting all of the senses. Sensory overload comes to mind on more than one occasion. On our first day in Hanoi, Doug (with ENV and Cleveland Zoo) picked us up from the airport and helped us get oriented. We started with a delicious lunch at a local restaurant, hunched around small knee-high tables on small plastic stools. We were treated to a lunch of eel soup! The eel is small and crispy, and blends in well with the noodles and broth. We added bits of fried dough (much like a doughnut), a squeeze of lime, and slurped it up with chopsticks. After we settled in to our hotel on Shoe
... read more