First impressions of Hanoi…beeping horns from chaotic hordes of scooters, buses & cars; electrical wires to challenge the best of Hydro One; lovely, smiling people; very walkable city, & a green light, when crossing a street, is just a suggestion! Yes, we have survived our first & second day in Hanoi & are loving it!
Jet lag was not in the vocabulary & we hit the road eager to immerse ourselves into the city vibes. Our accommodations in the old quarter proves very central to several must see sites such as the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Army Museum, Waterpuppet Theatre & the Hoa Lo prison (aka Hanoi Hilton) where several US airforce pilots, including Senator John McCain, were interned during the VN war. Needless to say, Bob was less impressed with the prison accommodations!
Our first afternoon was spent with Quynh & Viet Ang, two university students with the “Hanoi Kids”. This student run organization provides opportunities for students to practice their English while providing pro bono tours to folks such as ourselves. What a great time we all had learning from each other. They loved the mittens we gave them as a token of our appreciation & I now have two new friends on Facebook!
Today we met some great fellow Canadians from Saskatchewan & had a great time wandering around viewing the sights together. We are following similar routes through SE Asia, so here’s hoping we run into each other again in our travels.
Tomorrow we head to Ha Long Bay for an overnight on a VN ‘Junk’. We will update our post after this next adventure.
You rebels. Sounds exciting, I envy you……………………How’s the wine
Hi Brian! Tiger &/or 333 beer is the new vice, after all we are on a flashpacker’s budget!
Love those wires…..or is it the wines? Looks fantastic. Glad you are having a great time. Can’t wait to read your next blog.
Can I just say how I love that you are immersing yourself in the culture!!
Already making new friends 🙂 love it! Can’t wait to read more. Hello from home!
It’s funny you posted that picture of the wires! I just started a new project based around ‘ant’s-eye view’ (the opposite of birds-eye view) of telephone wires. Love the picture too!
Sounds like you are having a fabulous start to your adventure, Theresa! Will think of you tonight during BP class! 🙂
Sounds fabulous! What a wonderful adventure you have begun. The Canadian mittens were a great idea. They’re even popular down here in Florida. Looking forward to hearing more blogs.
Rob and Jeanne 🙂
Hit the ground running, and no jet lag…what a great start to your trip! The Hanoi Kids are such a good idea, do we do that here? We should. But I’m just glad I’m not a Hydro guy in Hanoi…
Jamie
Happy in Vietnam! You 2 seem to have the recipe for Happyness .
Thanks for letting us travel with you with such enjoyment, can hardly wait for your next stop at the beautiful bay……..a jewel.
Hugs
Elaine
Hi T and B:
Green with envy…..glad to hear that you arrived safe and sound….how was your flight. Thanks for letting us all live vicariously through you guys as we slog away through a Canadian winter.
Have fun, be safe!
Great post…keep them coming. I am printing them for you. Love the photolithography the mitts!!!! Miss you guys. Thank you for the email re Helen…..it has bee a rough two days!!!!! Love you guys!
Hi Theresa and Bob! So glad to hear you made it safe and sound, have been thinking of you! And sounds like no rest for the wicked! You sound happy and excited, the blog was great and really fun to keep abreast of all your wanderings!
Take care.
What an adventure, thanks for sharing.