Freedom Hanoi

... actress, ..surprise,...surprise... Jane Fonda.....? The mind boggles...All we needed then was 'Paris Hilton' to make things even more bazaar.
Most of our time spent in Hanoi was wandering amongst the many and varied arts and crafts stores that seemed to be just about everywhere we looked. Dave and I spent lots of time walking around Hanoi trying just trying to find one place or another without being knocked down by the many ...

... day, a long-necked lute. There is also a drummer or trong chau.
The drummer shows his approval of the singer or the songs depending on how he hits the drum. If he likes a song he might hit the side of the drum several times. If he is disappointed with the singer, he hits the drum twice. The guitar player must follow the rhythm of the phach. His instrument, the dan day, is only used in ca tru.

The theatre it's ...

... br>
We almost had to perform some more acrobatics the next day as they tried to get us of the island into the boat. The sea had got quite rough and the waves where quite high coming up onto the sand and the speed boat couldn't stay close. 5-6 men where trying to hold it in place as they expected us to walk through the crashing waves with our bags and climb into the boat. Seeing that we where quite hesitant and the water quite high they had the idea of putting a ...

... Flashbacks.

We finished up being pleasantly satisfied that we had beat our jet lag and navigated Hanoi by foot. We found some unique craft shops and are contemplating getting Losha a traditional Vietnamese dress tailored made to her body ($37) either here or somewhere down the coast but she is demanding that Carlushka get something too...we will see.

At the end of the day - poor poor Losha and Carlushka got foot ...

... it seems they are "ok" and many VN are starting to get them now.
Son is also going to get a phone and sim card for me - he says they will charge me too much because I am a foreigner and he will get a good price. So hopefully by tomorrow I will be able to make calls.

I came home after dinner last night and finally caught up on some of my long lost sleep.

I got up fairly early to make plans to hash today - get directions, etc. While up ...

... some for my mum as did Annette; we were assured that they were the best quality and would normally cost a lot more but as they were off loading stock before Chinese New Year we got a good price. Lucky us. I have no idea whether they were valuable or not but mum won't know either. Some backpackers told us that they'd found a place selling cheap beer so we went there to catch up with them. A woman was filling up glasses from a bucket of home brew. Granted, it was ...

... I havent done on my other trips is that I was going to eat more of the local food. I ordered some sort of fried noodles with beef and greens, and it was awsome. By the end of the meal we had ordered two orders of fried wontons, one order of spring rolls, two of the meat andnoodles, and fried shrimp. Oh and we had 2 beers each, and with tip we paid $11 each. Well apparently we made the waiters day, because it isnt customary ...

... what is put in your bowl. Ooops! For dessert we had an awesome fruit called Sapodillo which I haven't been able to find again yet. The house has a little shrine in it with photographs of dead loved ones. Apparently the lunch was in memory of the uncle's father.

After lunch we took the moped back into the old town which is fascinating. The buildings look really old and the streets are really close and bustling with mopeds and people. There are many streetside cafes and ...

... n rồi
hỏi nhau có dính ‘ḿn’ hay bị con sên (vắt) bám theo không.

Không
biết mấy bác lănh đạo ngành giao thông, ngành văn hoá có biết chuyện
này không. Hay do họ chỉ biết đi máy bay, xe VIP, chỉ biết dừng lại
khách sạn 5 sao, nên không thể biết dân và khách du lịch quốc tế xuống
ruộng ...

... Every street has cafes spilling out onto the sidewalk. Whenever I'm hungry, I can just sit down and order. Within minutes my meal is served. The local markets are always stocked with rice, produce, fruit, meat, fish, spices and more. Every morning, locals go to the market to buy fresh.

Affordable. I can eat meals in local restaurants for $1-2. Even by local standards, the food is cheap. When I did a homestay with a ...