Vietnam

We’ve been in Vietnam ten days and it’s been a whirlwind.  Leaving Siem Reap where it averaged 93* to Hanoi where it started out at 61* was a shock.  The new currency equals 23,750 Dong to one dollar. Thank goodness for my currency converter app on my iPhone!  Hanoi is home to roughly eight million people and they all seem to drive motorcycles.  It’s a rite of passage to learn to cross the street. You really have to pay attention and slowly cross streets without running nor going backwards. They will maneuver around you…it’s an odd feeling standing in the road with cars and cycles buzzing around you. Especially in the warren of densely populated streets in the old quarter. The shops spill their plethora of goods out into the sidewalks, the motorcycles park on the sidewalks, music is blaring, people are yelling and pushcarts selling fruit, flowers, and food are all moving around you.  It’s imperative to be alert.  

Our hotel, The Hanoi Pearl, is situated on a small street just off the wide boulevard encircling Hoan Kiem Lake. A favorite walking area inside the French Quarter. We arrived on the weekend when they close the street around the lake to cars turning it into a walking street.  Locals, tourist and vendors all meander round the lake while little tiny kids can drive small replicas of cars and tanks that are battery operated.  It’s adorable to watch these kids zooming around and you sometimes have to jump out of their way!  The trees drape into the lake, there is a red arched bridge out to the the island in the center of the lake to a small temple and it is very picturesque. 

Our friends Luci and Mark flew in and joined us in Hanoi.

It was great to have them with us! Our first morning we circled the lake and walked over to the elegant French colonial Metropole Hotel. 

It opened in 1901 and writers Somerset Maugham and Graham Green stayed there as well as many famous actors and politicians. 

We had a drink at the poolside cafe and enjoyed its aura of romance and old world vibes.