Hanoi Holidays Guest House

... scooters and pedestrians mingling precariously - but somehow missing each other - very scarey!!  Went to the Water Puppet Show in the evening - a strange concept with beautiful music played on weird instruments and delightful singing.  The actual puppet show is in the water - with various dragons, people etc rising from the 'pond' on stage - definitely different.

 

Back to the hotel to get ready for our journey to the beach!!


Hanoi, Vietnam johnandi

... br>Sauf a considerer que le cyclo-pousse en soit un. Ce qui n'est pas vraiment le cas. Quoique...Un cycliste sur 2 roues et devant une imitation de rocking-chair surmonte d'une tenture de tissu pour en proteger les passagers. Donc...le compte est bon...4 roues ! Mais comme elles ne sont pas positionnees en rectangle, mais bien en T, je les mettrais dans le lot des 2 roues,si vous le voulez bien!

La ville fourmille de 2 roues en tous genres qui grouillent de partout, emergent ...

... with no steps – and going downwards into a valley. I went a little further thinking the non-existent path would soon appear and it would eventually lead upwards. As the jungle thickened before me I decided to turn back, but not before pulling out my camera and snapping a splendid picture of the lush valley and green mountain tops.

I spotted a female monk on the way back. She indicated the right way and it was really obvious. I guess in my enthusiasm ...

... off the lady that had helped us along the way and scrambled into a building that was full of tourists, which was were we had lunch. A short rest and a review of what we’d bought , which drew the conclusion we where happy with the price and quality, and we were on our way again. The second section was shorter and easier which was nice after a fairly tough morning, but we had the same problem with the women from the next village following us the whole way. Again, one for each of us ...

... a great dinner, went for a walk outside and will go to bed. Kids are having fun and love the hotel as there is satellite tv, free wifi, and room service.

Tomorrow we tour the city - Hanoi Hilton - the prison where John McCain was held, the presidential palace, and Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and his body. Tomorrow night we take the overnight training to the hills and villages of Sapa in the mountains.

I will try and keep in touch.

Dawn

... prisoners were treated, saying that after a few weeks most prisoners were converted to the Vietnamese point of view. Obviously pretty biased but so is most of the media we are used to in the west I suppose. The food in Hanoi was really good though often pretty hit or miss. Thats mostly because we didnt re3ally go to any western restaurants inHanoi. Mostly we went to Vietnamese where no one spoke english so it was a ...

... about it. We asked for rice and chicken, we got a plate of chicken bits you wouldn't give to the dog. I think both of us had one piece of meat each (there were heads, tendons, feet and other unidentifiable bits) and the meal cost £5 but by then we were so sick of being ripped off in Vietnam I felt like giving the guy my credit card and saying 'Please, take a holiday on it, my treat'. I had found myself chanting a mantra recently 'get me out of Vietnam ...

... terrain had been left untouched. I can only wonder how long it will be before they destroy what draws so many people to their country. The Hanoi airport was modern, but oddly very empty when we arrived. We breezed through immigration and out into the corridor to find our prearranged ride to our hotel -- xxx. But while there were drivers waiting with signs for many travellers, a sign with our name was no where to be found. Maybe our email with flight ...

... even has a bath (our first one in 3 weeks!) and a small security box which is LOOSE in our wardrobe... what foolproof security!

Katie's still not 100% sure about the room/hotel, but even though $40 is steep for our budget it's central, seems safe and has decent amenities, including FREE INTERNET on the one prehistoric PC downstairs. Wooo-hooo! ;)

Katie wants to check out some other cheaper places tomorrow (what is ...

... I don’t think they get too many foreigners here. So now what do I now?

Of course one of the most important things about ‘settling in’ is having a decent place to stay, a quality hard to define. I usually only know when it’s all wrong. So I look… and look… and look. These sandwiched-in little mini-skyscrapers may save physical space, but don’t do much for my psychological space. Finally I find an older ...