Anyway, after 35 hours of travel I finally made it to Hanoi! The small plane we boarded to connect us from Taipei to Hanoi had these strange misters that smelled vaguely of the stuff from fog machines. It made it rather claustrophobic while sitting waiting for takeoff. Perhaps it keeps it cooler inside, or maybe it just gives the illusion of it. Here's a video of it:
Everything is new here. EVERYTHING... except Pho. It's 85 degree F and really humid. There are scooters everywhere, and it is pretty chaotic in the streets considering there are often areas with no usable sidewalk.... because scooters. Also, they honk a lot. I feel like Will Ferrel in "Elf" When he says "Watch out for the yellow ones! They don't stop!" Apparently walking across the street slowly, but with confidence is the best way. Sudden movements will make anyone on a scooter have to react quickly, whereas if you cross steadily, they can easily navigate around you.
After sharing a taxi into Hanoi from the airport with a new friend I met on the plane, After arriving at the hostel I met one of the guys that I will be sharing the room with and invited him to come get some food with us. He accepted. We stopped in a local, family run restaurant to have a beer and meal. They were super friendly and cooked the food on the street. The whole family was hanging out and lounging while watching T.V., playing with the kids, and doing bookkeeping. There were was a cute, but semi-emaciated kitten drinking out of a pot where meat was being defrosted.
As we were finishing up our meal, I couple of Californians took at seat next to us. After they finished eating we wandered around the old city of Hanoi. We bought some ice cream and some fresh pressed sugar cane juice. We are now back at the hostel working on putting together more plans for tonight and the next couple of days. Stay tuned!
