Hello Hanoi

I was grateful to finally arrive in Hanoi. We're staying in the old quarter which is very charming with all its little shops and cramped streets. The stores remind me of little New York boutiques in that they are so tiny you can barely turn around in them.



Our guesthouse is new so there are nice hot showers, comfy beds, tv, and free internet. In fact we were able to watch the Superbowl this morning in bed at 8 am.

The streets here are hard to describe. There are no rules on the road, there are thousands of motorcycles and few cars, and very few street lights. The best strategy for walking and probably driving is to just keep a steady and even course and just plow through. If you think too much about it you'll never leave the sidewalk. The noise is deafening - so much honking all the time. The sidewalks are also this interesting phenomena of sidewalk, parking lot, extended kitchen and living room, restaurant, garbage can, and showroom. All this leaves very little room for actual walking so you're usually on the street.