Somerset Grand Hanoi

This Temple dates back to 1070 and was set up on the instructions of the then Emperor as a place a place of excelence for literature and education. I was told that the original students the sonsof high ranking officials and nobility but later it was opened up to everyone. Entry was by emamination which were extremely tough eg on one occacion 3000 took the examination and only 8 passed, <br><br>It ...

... know! We even found a Bia Hoi junction,six competing stalls all boasting to have better chillers than the next. Great.<br><br>Each of the streets here also seems to have its own traditional area of specialisation. If you want a new pair of shoes there is a street that sells nothing but shoes ranging from flip flops to relatively expensive, but high quality rip offs, of Italian designer shoes. The same goes for metal street, anything from ...

... live a very simple, traditional agrarian life. The best<br>aspect of the museum was the fact that it was busy &#8211; very crowded<br>and not with tourists but with local people! There was a festival<br>like vibe at the museum: popcorn, ice cream and balloons were being<br>sold in the street outside and there was music everywhere.<br><br>Other<br>observation s: Ha Noi is a loud city honking from vehicles creating<br>the most amount of noise. They honk non-stop here &#8211 ...

... et pourtant vrai! La multitude de 2 roues motorises jouant aux spaghettis sur les voies de Hanoi nous plonge dans la perplexite...Ou se cachent-ils s'ils ne sont pas en train de zigzaguer en un ballet 'nouillisant' sur la voie?<br><br>Pour certains, ils sont sont sur les trottoirs, gares les uns a cote des autres en des parkings de motos et scooters gigantesques et superbement ordonnes. Mais ils sont aussi et le plus souvent pele-mele sur le trottoir. Pourquoi les pietons ...

<br>I must confess that I have not particularly cared to write much about my trip thus far, although it has been quite eventful. I think perhaps I want to experience the moment rather than preoccupy myself with writing it all down and worrying about how I choose my words. So, my entries will be less frequent than I have offered in my past travels, but hopefully will be just as descriptive. <br><br>With that being said, I'll do my best to describe my two ...

... a couple of Egyptian guys we met in Indo months ago. We drank until 6am beside the lake watching the locals do Tai Chi and stretch / exercise (seemingly to mean spinning very fast in circles until dizzy, funny as !)<br><br><br>Once we finally received our Visas back, we headed to Ha Long Bay. It is spectacular! Very beautiful and relaxing chilling on a junk boat amongst the limestone pinnacles. <br><br>Then it was back to Hanoi and off the China......<br>

... that they can appear out of nowhere and the splashing really adds to the drama. The incredible live, traditional music really added to the atmosphere and there's one instrument which anyone could listen to except young girls as it's said that whoever listens to the musician will instantly fall in love with him. Cunningly they've avoided this problem in the modern theatre by substituting the young stud with an old woman.<br><br>As well as being ...

... the years those painful bus trips of South America and crazy over night trains of India have added to these two geezers weary bodies. We touched down in Hanoi, whizzed through customs and met the hotel driver holding a plaque-card with our names. We made advanced reservations at a hotel just for the advertised free pick up, as Hanoi has a really bad reputation for dodgy taxi drivers with trick meters who also practice the ole switcharoo hotel move ...

... their bags with custom made cloth. We all enjoyed our time there but sadly it was time to move on... Exit Hoi An enter Hanoi. Hanoi is great, after all Bek and I heard it was meant to be the complete opposite. The people are friendly and it's not too expensive. We all got a shuttle bus to our hotel which was booked out but the staff were pros and hooked us up with an even better place to stay. We spent about 5 days in Hanoi...took a tour to Ha ...

... t quite on his best game this day however, and he fails to notice the speed with which the tide is receeding. We're soon stuck on our tiny, but growing beach, and all motor revving becomes moot as more and more of the hull is revealed each minute. Part of the tour includes some kayaking around the karsts, but when a replacement boat arrives to take us, I decide to stay behind and have some private beach time. Our captain snores while I swim & sit on the top ...