Well, I am about to leave Vietnam. We have had a good time here. We liked the south better. While the north has spectacular scenery, the north is cooler, dustier, and noisier than the south. We wished the air had been cleaner. Perhaps the Chinese pollution is blowing in from the north. The people have been wonderful, by and large. I wi...

Pho cuon for lunch again today :)  Have been going to the same place to eat for 3 days in a row at least, for lunch....Quan An Ngon is the name (literally translated District Eat Delicious).  There are at least a dozen stalls in the courtyard with a great variety of dishes.  It's a place you can come to daily and not eat the same ...

New York & Hanoi  The Hanoi locals are like New Yorkers, they keep to themselves, and are doing their thing. They're not trying to be extra friendly to try to sell something to us although I still use the term, "Khong mua, com on," quite often here too. It means, "No buy, thank you." I just don't have to say it as often. We wanted to ...

Air Asia is great! A nice flight to Hanoi and we are ready to explore Vietnam. THe new airport in Bangkok is very futuristic, nice but I think we still prefer KL airport. We are on a tight schedule to get through Vietnam and Cambodia by December 15th so we will probably be doing a lot of catch up on the blog after that! See you then! Rae and Pawel

Arriving in Hanoi was a bit of a shock after chilled out Laos. But underneath the madness the city is a lot of fun...if you can make it across the road!

Good Morning Vietnam! I've been in Hanoi for 3 days now. It's a hectic place and teh heat is unrelenting. It's consistently 40 degrees and there's been no rain yet. Mopeds and motorcycles zoom past from all directions. You really take your life in your hands as you cross the streets. The key to it is just to step out onto the road and keep walki...