Hey Hey Hanoi

So I've been here for 5 days and today was my first time taking the public bus system (terrifying) into the heart of Hanoi. For non-Vietnamese, the main attractions in Hanoi lie in a few block radius called the Old Quarter. So we took the bus system--all in Vietnamese--into the city. Scary, but worth it. Also, I now have so much more respect for non-English speakers who work and commute in America.

Our first stop was Cong (sp?) Cafe, a super narrow four story building with the best/only coconut coffee of my life. Side note: I'm a three-cup-a-day person but I haven't had an ounce of coffee since I got here. The past five days have been the equivalent of a junkie kicking a habit. But then--coconut coffee AKA heaven in a glass.

No comparison for how it tastes

We hung out at the cafe for a while, which was actually super cool and relaxed, and then walked to the Temple of Literature.

"Put more pictures of people!" -my mom

"Don't eat the rice, you'll get diabetes" -also my mom

Awkward solo shots, hi mom

After the Temple we tried to go to the War Museum, but I guess Monday and Fridays are vacation days for the Vietnamese, and it wasn't open.

I did take a picture of this plane though, does that put me at spy status?

One thing I did notice about the heart of Hanoi is how motorbikes are lined up everywhere. Of course I had realized that most of the population rides motorbikes to get around, but I hadn't thought about parking or storing them. The result is this

I try to walk past nonchalantly, but all I can think is how this could very easily be me on the streets of Hanoi:

We took several long buses back to the apartment for some delicious mini spring rolls, and then went down to the bar on the first floor of our apartment. It's a really convenient place to hang out and play cards without having to go out into the night. Hanoi is a completely different place when it's dark out.

Let's hope my mom is satisfied with the amount of pictures in this post. Fingers crossed.

Angela