Hanoi aka Motorcycle City

Trip Start Dec 07, 2004

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of Vietnam Hanoi, Vietnam
Thursday, January 6, 2005

We hitchhiked and local bused it from Sapa through the Northwest of Vietnam, through Dien Bien Phu, en route to Hanoi. I got my haircut on the side of the road in some rural town - see attached photos. Needless to say, communication was a problem and I am now a skinhead. Not my preferred look, but it's low maintenance. We spent New Year's Eve doing absolutely nothing - I think we fell asleep by 9pm. Not the crazy celebration we imagined we'd have, however Tet (Vietnamese New Year's) is only a month away, and that's supposed to be a huge week-long party, so we're going to celebrate then.

We have been in Hanoi for 4 days, and leave tomorrow morning for the next port of call. The Vietnamese food is far better than Chinese, and we also are having our fair share of western cuisine, and loving it.

We saw Uncle Ho's corpse (that's Ho Chi Minh to you) in his mausoleum (which is much like Fort Knox, except there's a body, not gold), a few museums, war ruins, pagodas, the famous Hanoi Water Puppets (very cool), etc. This city is FULL of motorcycles - it's taken us a few days to figure out how to cross the street without getting plowed down. We've taken a bunch of moto rides around the city, and the occasional cyclo. Suzanne's tried her hand at making a living in the local commerce -- see photo.

That's all for now - we finally go to the coast tomorrow, and some much-needed sun, with some luck.

Hope all is well,
Suzanne & Roger

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