Speaking of food, we did lots of walking around and came across this little wet market in downtown Hanoi. Cameron found the eels fascinating. Just about every kind of fish and meat, buckets and buckets overflowing with fresh flowers, quivering piles of cooked noodles in baskets, and colorful fruits and vegetables were piled on the sidewalks.

Sometimes vietnamese women carrying these double-burden baskets would walk right up and set them on a shoulder and signal for us to take photos. Afterwards we were obviously expected to show our appreciation for the photo op. by buying some fresh pineapple, oranges or kumquats which we of course were happy to do. Considering the fact that we knew NO Vietnamese (well, maybe one word- thankyou) and had very little experience with a vietnamese menu, we had excellent culinary experiences. On several occasions we happily ate unidentifiable items. Seven years of living overseas was helpful in that area.

Looking back at Hanoi

Soon after we left Malaysia, our computer crashed and I thought I had lost most of my photos of our visit to Vietnam. A friend was able to save them for us, however, and I have so enjoyed going through my photos of this past year. We were only in Hanoi, Vietnam for 3 days which wasn't really enough to experience this city. There is nothing minimalist about Hanoi. It provides stimulation overload for all your senses, and one must constantly be on guard when walking through the city. One US dollar is worth about 16000 dong, so you can see how easily you can get confused with all those zeros. It's best to carry around a piece of paper or a calculator so you can have your money and change all figured out before you ever pay. Of course, many of the shopkeeper will bargain with you in US dollars, which could add to the confusion.



We debated much about this trip and whether or not to take Cameron, but in the end I'm so glad we took him; Cam speaks just about any language! He also loved the Water Puppet Theater in downtown Hanoi; a really unique experience. It was an hour and a half long show all in Vietnamese with traditional music. We ended up sitting right behind an older American couple who had adopted a Vietnamese boy with Down Syndrome and lived in Hanoi. How neat!





What else did Cam love? He loved the piles of french bread you could buy on every street corner. He loved the trishaw rides through the brightly lit streets at night. For a few dollars we could enjoy an hour long ride through the narrow crowded streets; a perfect activity for our tired legs. Pho-the slippery noodle soup with various things floating in it. This seems to be the most common inexpensive meal around. Good thing he liked it, because we had it every day.




Part 2 tomorrow!