May 30 2008

Trip Start Feb 16, 2008

112

Trip End ??? ??, 2009

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Flag of Vietnam Hanoi, Vietnam
Saturday, May 31, 2008

After our somewhat stressful arrival in Hanoi, we thought we would just take it easy today. We slept in a bit, but woke up with enough time to check out the included breakfast at our hotel. It was unimpressive, and under cooked. So we went to the restaurant next door, the Tamarind Caf�. We had some very delicious food and Jes ordered a Vietnamese coffee, that was extremely strong. We checked out the tours of Halong Bay with Handspan company, affiliated with the caf�. It is the recommended company for the best tours, but they are out of the budget category. We've read a lot of horror stories about people booking the cheap over night tours and having a lot of issues from the tour guides to the food/accommodations. Because this is the reason we have come to Hanoi area, we plan on spending a bit more money, last thing we want is more problems. After breakfast we walked toward Hoan Kiem Lake outside the old quarter area. There is a temple on the lake, Ngoc Son, that has an embalmed giant turtle in it

Island on the lake

. So we walked across the bridge and checked it out. There are turtles in the lake that are supposed to be protected. We were able to see a few large shadows in the lake, the turtles would occasionally poke their heads up. It was interesting for this to be right in the city centre. There is also Tortoise Tower in the middle of the lake. After taking a few photos of the lake we decided to have a coffee and try to decide on a tour. There are so many options, with so many different junks (traditional boats), so it is a bit overwhelming. We couldn't decide, so we went back to the hotel and chilled for a while. We decided to go to a Indian restaurant recommended in Lonely Planet, Tandoor, it had closed up last night before we got a chance to go. They didn't start cooking til 6pm, so we first went to Le Pub across the street and had a beer while people watching. Its nice to know we're not the only ones who probably look lost half the time. We went back to the restaurant and ended up having some of the best Indian we've had in Vietnam, it was a bit costly though. We were feeling stuffed, as usual after Indian and lazy, so we just went back to the room and watched a movie. Still trying to decided what to do about our tour.... Ciao for now!

Zoe