Hanoi

I went straight from Beijing to meet Matt in Hanoi. It was a lot colder than I expected...I still had to wear my winter coat from Beijing. Ugh! Hanoi was nice, and it felt so good to be out of school. We stayed at the Church Hotel on Nha Tho Street. We loved it! The people were friendly, and it was in a great location. We could walk to everything, and we were right in the middle of a cute shopping area. They left us a basket of fresh fruit every day and for breakfast they made exatly what you ordered...no buffet breakfast like most hotels. That was a good thing cause I usually don't like buffets.

Hanoi was alot more tourist oriented than I had expected. Everywhere we went there were packs of western tourists with giant cameras hanging from their necks, clutching their Lonely Planets. Yes, I know, Matt and I are tourists too...but somehow it detracted from the excitement of the place. Sadly, I did not find the Vietnamese there to be very friendly. They count on the cluelessness of tourists and try to chrge outrageous rates, all the while being very surly and having a mocking grin on their face. It is so different in Beijing, I now appreciate how friendly Beijing residents are. One woman tried to charge me 2 US dollars for one apple! That is alot when you consider than you can buy a whole meal for 50 cents. Even in the US I would not pay 2 dollars for one apple. I would not pay 2 dollars for a pound of apples! I don't mind paying "too much" for things when I am in other countries, that just comes along with travel, but I do mind paying outrageous prices and having then laugh in my face! Because of this negative attitude, I shopped primarily at the Western style boutiques, where there was a set price and everything is labeled. There were so many cute stores and about a kajillion art galleries. I bought some beautiful laquerware, and not much else. There was a lot of beautiful silk for sale and many silk and embroidered hand bags.

While we were in Hanoi, Matt and I did not see any sights. We spent our time enjoying each other and walking around and eating lots of yummy food. It seems like so long since Matt and I have had time to relax and be together. I was so happy knowing that after this trip, I would not be going away from Matt and missing him. If there is one thing that I learned in Beijing, it is that I definitely like my life a lot better when Matt is around. When we are living together he annoys me sometimes, but that is probably true with any couple...It annoys me a lot more when he is not around!


The Church Hotel


Matt and I at Hoan Kiem Lake, in the middle of Hanoi


A shop selling lacquerware


While we were in Hanoi, we saw a performance of the Water Puppets. Hanoi is famous for it, and it is something that all the tourists do. It was pretty good, and only cost three US dollars. The best part was that the show was accompanied by live music, and some of the traditional Vietnamese instrumentsare really cool. A whole band of musicians sat on the side and played music and narrated the performance.


Hanoi Opera House


I was very cold in Hanoi...I wore my winter coat the whole time!