Hanoi - Day 2

 Day 1 in Hanoi wiped us out.  After our morning tour and lunch, we returned to our hotel room and basically slept off our jet lag.  Sensing that we were not going to be up to going out for dinner, our guide Phil told us he'd drop off some Binh Mi sandwiches.  I've had Binh Mi before, but these were the best I've ever tasted, with the perfect French rolls with just the slightest amount of crackle when you bite in.

With the all-afternoon nap, I woke up wide awake at 2 am, finally going back to sleep around 4.

Our Tuesday agenda was adjusted from our original itinerary as Phil wanted to make sure we didn't have too much walking for Shirley.  We started at a 6th Century Buddhist temple.  Phil shared with us much more about the philosophy of Buddhism than we learned during our time in Thailand five years ago. He explained all the different "departments" of the temple, why people leave offerings of flowers, food and beverage for the gods and told us all about the belief in the stages after death a soul must go through before being reincarnated.

Shirley with Phil & Hao at the Buddhist Temple

Temple Tower

We then drove around the 17km West Lake road. This huge lake is right in the middle of the city and is surrounded by high end homes and businesses and many, many coffee shops.  We stopped at one and I had my first taste of Vietnamese coffee.  Very strong, but very smooth!  I had it iced, which was perfect for the warm (86 F) day.  

Enjoying a coffee lake side

Our next stop was a Cyclo-bike tour through the Old Quarter of Hanoi.  Cyclo-bikes are like a tuk-tuk, except the two person passenger seat is in the front and the driver peddling is behind.  Having done both, I prefer the Cyclo-bike because you don't spend time looking at the back of the driver.  Being on an open air, person-powered device on the city streets of Hanoi was a bit of an experience.  Cars, trucks, busses, bikes, and pedestrians share the narrow streets and there were times other vehicles and people were mere inches from us.  But it just seems to work.  I took several videos of the flow of traffic.  After I review them and find the one that best exemplifies the weaving of the traffic around us.

Starting our Cyclo-bike tour

The Old Quarter is an amazing place.  Each block seemed to have a different theme with dozens of tiny storefronts open and good spilling out to the sidewalk.  One block might be all fabric shops, the next hall hardware stores.  And they were so specialized. One may sell nothing but doorknobs and next to it a place that sells only hinges.  I saw one store that sold nothing but metal mesh.  There was even a block where all the stores sold Halloween decorations.

A holiday decoration shop in the Old Quarter

The Cyclo-bike let us off at a restaurant where we enjoyed another delicious authentic meal:  Fried Duck Spring Rolls, Lotus Stem Salad with Shrimp, Obama Bun Cha (the dish made famous in the Anthony Bourdain episode with Barrack Obama in Hanoi),  and chicken satay on lemon grass stems.

Yummy lunch

We're now resting back at the hotel and preparing for an evening tour in a old Russian jeep.  I'll write about the evening in my next post.


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