Arrival in Vietnam - cool weather at last!

We arrived in Hanoi by plane from Siem Reap and were greeted with temperatures of around 15 degrees - bliss!  So, donning jumpers, scarf and gloves (E) and jumper (B) we headed out of the hotel into the first sub-25 degree temperatures we've had since mountain tops in NZ.

Celebrating our return to cooler temperatures

Our hotel was in the Old Town which is the main place of interest for the tourists.  It was very interesting wandering around the old streets and markets seeing areas that have remained largely unchanged over the last few hundred years.  We also took a cyclo (small carriage pushed by a push-bike) to the French Quarter.  The traffic in Hanoi is crazy so at times we were crossing junctions looking at the oncoming traffic heading our way and just hoping that we'd make it across on time!  It's all part of the fun though!

By the lake in Hanoi

The following day it was raining so we went to a water puppet show which is apparently the thing to do in Hanoi.  The puppets are made to 'dance' on the water by puppeteers who are standing waist deep in the water behind some screens.  Anyway, it was quite strange and all the voices were in Vietnamese but we got the gist of what was going on.  We also made it to the Army Museum (by cyclo again) which was interesting to get Vietnam's viewpoint of the 'American War'.  There were lots of crashed plane parts, helmets, boots etc so it was quite sobering.

Tonight we take the overnight train to Hue...

Hanoi's Old Town

Burning paper and fake cash for Chinese NY

Lady, you wanna buy some bananas?!