Havoc in Hanoi!

Hanoi is MAD! We arrived bright and early at 04:00 bleary eyed expecting not alot to be going on - walked outside the station and it seemed like the whole world was up wanting us to get on a moto, buy a baguette, have a cup of coffee! It was great...we headed to the lake in the middle of the old quarter and watched everyone doing their exercises...very amusing!!! From full on aerobic sessions to Tai Chi, jogging to the most bizarre leg and arm actions you've ever seen! Hee Hee! (hoping to upload an mpeg to show you all firsthand!) We found a great guesthouse close to St Josephs Cathedral (for those who have been!) had a quick lie down and then got on with the challenge of exploring Hanoi!

Bridge on the Lake- Old Town

We've got one word to say! MOPEDS! You have never seen as many mopeds flying around in every concievable direction making crossing the road an absolute challenge! You literally have to have eyes in the back of your head, arms, legs..you get the picture! As designated tour guide, we embarked on a walking tour of Hanoi taking in the many streets all named after the produce sold there, we particularly liked leather & PVC street and towel street!!! We ended up at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum where you can see an embalmed body of the man himself, unfortunately we got there too late but the building itself is tremendously impressive and shows how much he is respected within Vietnam! Communist flags flying everywhere!

Me at Mausoleum

In the evening we ate dinner with Terry and Val and tried some of the local delicacies! Hmmmm! Interesting! We found a couple with our very own love of chocolate and ended the evening with icecream, brownies and good old chocolate mousse! Some things don't change!

We had originally planned to spend NYE in Halong Bay but decided it would be better to stay in Hanoi to capture the atmosphere of the city! So NYE day we wandered the backstreets of Hanoi! We saw roasted dogs being sold...sorry to anyone with canine friends, made friends with workers on a bridge and walked arm in arm with a lovely lady waffling away to me in Vietnamese with no idea what was being said! We went to watch a performance at the Water Puppet theatre which was great - I spent the whole performance trying to work out how they were doing it much to Paul's amusement!

NYE Randomness

I nearly had a heart-attack trying to cross the road on our way home and managed it on the third attempt after major stressing half way! Had a great NYE dinner at the Little Hanoi restaurant with Terry & Val and then went to see the most random NY stage show ever in the streets with resident boy band and a full on fashion show complete with about 25 wedding dresses and ball gowns! Random! We were expecting a proper countdown to NY but the final act finished, lots of confetti got strewn into the air and....that was that! Hmmmmm! Then everyone headed lakeside so we followed and kept asking everyone if there were going to be fireworks..."Yes, Yes, Yes" was the extremely enthusiastic reply! 20 minutes later...nothing! Great fun though and definitely a NY with a difference!!!

Real life - behind the scenes

Temple of Literature

Water Puppets