Weather: Hot on arrival then turned to winter the following day Sights and activities: Walking tour of old quarter, Temple of Literature, non for profit restaurants to enable young people from the streets in to work, water puppet theatre (originated in northern Vietnam on rice paddies), night out with Mark from work, Ho Chi Minh Museum, Ngoc Son...

Hi Folks! The last time we talked to you we were riding elephants in the rather pristine(?) northern forests of Thailand. Well, right now we are holed up in our hotel in the god-awful city of Hanoi, The Peoples Republic of Viet Nam. In all our travels in 20 years in Ltin America and Europe I have never been in a more depressing, surreal, and fil...

Hi Everyone, It is Saturday afternoon 2:40 p.m. I have just order a silk suit jacket to be made, it will cost me $45, custom tailored, very dramatic, red and Chinese black. I just bought another silk jacket but that one already fits me. There is a whole street of tailors, from which you can choose to have clothing made for you. I am recovering f...

Hi Everyone, It is Saturday afternoon 2:40 p.m. I have just order a silk suit jacket to be made, it will cost me $45, custom tailored, very dramatic, red and Chinese black. I just bought another silk jacket but that one already fits me. There is a whole street of tailors, from which you can choose to have clothing made for you. I am recovering f...

As soon as we touched down in Hanoi and bundled into the taxi, we knew we had stepped foot in a city that would be both hectic and crazy. Ev**y vehicle on the road, be it car, van or one of the millions of motorbikes in the city drive p**manently using the horn - th**e are no rules apart from the bigg** vehicle gets right-of-way! We knew we w**e...

Hanoi Hanoi is a bit of sensory overload and it took a minute to get a hang of things, my first impression wasnt all that great, but it grew on me somewhat and helped me learn a few Vietnam survival skills for the rest of the trek south, first.......... the hotel. The hotel After being picked up from the airport we maneuvered through the city s...

When last heard from the V Man and Mini V were preparing to board a Vietnam Airlines jet. Destination: Hanoi, Vietnam. A week prior to the trip, Mini V gave the V Man a short-do, i.e. a near crew cut, with the V Man's brand new hair cutting apparatus. As the hair slowly dropped to the ground the V Man saw his new image in the mirror opposite: an...