Hanoi

The thought of that 17-hour sleeper bus ride from Hoi An to Hanoi was just sounding painful. Our two previous sleeper bus rides were just fine, but this third one was just weighing on us.


Fortunately we found JetStar, an Australian ultra-discount airline that flies domestically within Vietnam. So instead of 17 hours on a bus, we had a pleasant one-hour plane ride.

One thing about the airport in Hanoi... there are a ridiculous amount of scammers. Fortunately our trusty Lonely Planet guidebook warned us of the dangers, but just like they warned, we had people pretending to be drivers that our hotel sent to pick us up. Thanks, but we didn't even have hotel reservations, yet... get lost. They will then scam by taking you to their network hotel instead, charging you a ridiculous price for the taxi ride, or worst case, driving you somewhere and robbing you... Shady stuff and the police there don't do anything about it.


After safely arriving at our hotel, we were out and about to see the city. Here's Morgan getting her bearing of where we were in Hanoi and where to go

After walking and getting nowhere, we opted for a taxi. Like the car seat for Ryann? That's Vietnam-style...

We made it to the main lake at the center of Hanoi. The girls loved this tree that was growing sideways.

The lake is called Hoan Kiem Lake, Lake of the Restored Sword. It is also called Turtle Lake. Very large turtles live in this lake and they are the basis of several legends including one in which a giant turtle gave the king a magical golden sword. Regardless of legends, it's a beautiful place to see. Crossing the bridge to visit the temple on the island

A depiction in honor of the turtle with the golden sword.

Around the temple there were lots of people just hanging out and enjoying the day.

Still on the small island, we saw these two gals passed out in the sun. We suspect they took the 17-hour bus ride from Hoi An to Hanoi! Glad we flew...This worshipper intensely sang, chanted, and bowed. I wish I could have understood what she was saying.

Offerings to the dead. Glad to see the U.S. dollar still has value overseas, even if it is fake dollars!

Another temple near Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. Pictures are not allowed inside the mausoleum, so nothing really to report from there. His body is transported to Russia for three months every year for some work. He was there when we visited, so Tally and I saw him sleeping...

The One Pillar Pagoda. A Vietnamese emperor in the 11th century had a dream that he met the God of Mercy who was seated in a giant lotus flower. The God of Mercy gave him a baby boy. Shortly thereafter he met a peasant girl who bore him a boy. To express his gratitude, he had this pagoda built in the shape of a lotus flower.

Worship outside of the One Pillar Pagoda

Chinese tourists make themselves known to us by asking to take pictures of our kids... even in Hanoi.

Typical street in Hanoi... scooters, people hanging out, and people eating.

Speaking of food, how about the ever popular KFC? After waiting in line downstairs for about 20 minutes to order our food, we had to wait in line for another 20 minutes to get our food. That's tricky.

Anybody remember the movie Good Morning Vietnam? One of the DJs in the movie said that KFC's Colonel Sanders and Ho Chi Minh were the same person. Look at their pictures and you'll see a resemblance.

The view from KFC was great, however. The controlled chaos of traffic in Vietnam...

or maybe the chaos isn't that controlled... look at this, just incredible!

Our hotel in Hanoi... this was our priciest place in Vietnam at $20/night

I loved the sheets...

We'll detail a couple of other Hanoi attractions separately, namely Halong Bay and the Hanoi Hilton. But we'll leave with this that we stumbled up in our wanderings... cock fighting!

Yes, cock fighting is fun for the whole family... just pull your stroller up and enjoy while eating a snack...