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| After an overnight flight on Malaysia Airlines, five hours at KLIA and another 3 in the air we were a little jaded upon arriving in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. Fortunately we were upgraded to first class...
. . .
NOT!!!
Anyway, tired or not, having missed a day of the tour due to Dave's exam we had no time to waste, setting out from our hotel in the bustling old quarter to explore this charming and bustling city. They say there are 2 million motor bikes and probably almost as many bicycles here, and crossing the road in any Vietnamese city is a bit like playing Russian Roulette: step out, walk determinedly, and hope!
Our first discovery was the omnipresence of the incumbent Communist Party (hammer & sickle banners everywhere) and the nationalistic pride in the flag: five point golden star on red background. After being fleeced by hawkers for bananas (always know what the local currency is worth before venturing from your hotel) we wandered around Hoan Kiem Lake and enjoyed a drink at a modern bar, then attended the hilarious Water Puppet Theatre production, consisting of various vignettes depicting life in the villages amongst the rice paddies. Hanoi was our base for the first week of the tour, to which we returned after the Hill Tribe trek and Halong Bay visit. We managed to get around a bit of the central city including excursions to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (something of a pilgrimage for the locals) and the Museum of Ethnology, which explains the culture, architecture and rituals of some of the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam (the "Viet" people making up the bulk of the population - 85%). Make no bone(r)s about it, some of these peoples aren't afraid to express themselves!
We also began our appreciation of Vietnamese cuisine, amongst other places sampling Cha Ca La Vong (a delicious grilled fish dish) at the famous restaurant of the same name (which only serves one dish), and Pho (beef noodle soup - a national specialty) at Pho24 - a Vienamese McDonalds-style chain specialising in noodles rather than burgers).
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