Hello Hanoi!

After 30 hours of traveling halfway around the globe, I made it to Hanoi. My first taste of southeast Asia is in stark contrast to eastern and central Africa.  The city is hustling.  Motorbikes are flying everywhere, taxis are darting around and people are hurrying along the sidewalks. After a bit of haggling at the airport, we found a taxi to take us to Koto Hotel.  For $5 a night Jordan and I were given our own room. No dorm beds for us! (Just yet...)

The next day we explored some of the city. Mostly we walked around the small lake.  There was a beautiful pagoda to visit that sits in the center.

Afterward we partook in one of Hanoi's finest traditions, bia hoi. This is beer brewed fresh daily. It is available in little restaurants/bars on the sides of the roads and is directly poored from a keg.  The cost of one glass, about 2500 dong, or 25 cents. I really enjoyed it. It is a nice light beer and a nice change from the darker beers I was drinking in Africa.

Hanoi is known for its water puppet theater, which was... interesting. The puppets sit on water, which covers the mechanisms that make the puppets move. There was great, authentic vietnamese music. It was so soothing it lulled me to sleep. Whoops.

We headed back to the hotel a little early, even though the night life was already in action. We were getting up early to take a tour of Ha Long Bay. I, unfortunately, did not make it on this tour. Three months in Africa, I never vomited, not once.  One day in Hanoi eating pho from the side of the road... death. Ok ok. Maybe I don't need to be so dramatic, but I hate being nauseous. It reminds me of chemo and I mentally start freaking out. I think it might be some form of PTSD. Everyone else (3 total) were just fine. I told them to go on ahead and I'd catch up.

The people at the hotel took amazing care of me. They woke me up in the middle of the afternoon, offering to take me to the pharmacy, the hospital, call a doctor. They insisted that I eat and scolded me for skipping breakfast.  The vienamese are such nice, thoughtful people. At least the people who worked at Koto Hotel were. They had one boy walk me down the street to find some safe boiled rice for me to eat and they gave me tons of bananas from their restaurant. So not such a bad day afterall. I rescheduled my trip to Ha Long Bay for the next morning.

Note: If you ever need a budget hotel in Hanoi, I highly recommend the Koto Hotel. The rooms are clean and breakfast is included in the cost of the room. The staff are absolutely fantastic. They go above and beyond to make you comfortable.  They also act as a tourist agency and you can book all your side trips, bus and train tickets through them at really good prices. And there is free wireless. How can you go wrong?