These boots are made for walking...

Hello again, everyone! So yesterday was another fun-filled Hanoi day! Initially, I spent it hanging out in the movie room at the hostel, and catching up on email and blog stuff. Also am trying to slowly but surely clean up my camera memory card to make room for all of the new pics I am going to take. I am hoping to get Hanoi pics posted today! I keep hearing stories of cameras getting lost or stolen, so I really need to post pics and save them as often as i can! I just need to get the hang of how to do this...it's not as easy for me as it is for some of you! I was lucky enough to be sitting next to a Dutch guy, Bas, for awhile yesterday, and can thank him for helping me update my blog pic to represent my team, as well as my blog URL:) He also helped me put some pics onto my portable hard drive. Anyway, enough about that...back to my day in Hanoi!
We missed getting lunch at the cafe here yesterday, so Bas and Greg (from Boston) and I headed out to "find lunch," which ended up leading to one of the only places we could find that was open - due to TET (the Vietnamese new year) a LOT of places are closed right now. The Vietnamese people head to their home towns for at least this week.

 I would say it is comparable to our Christmas/New Year's holidays back home. So the noodle place seemed a bit sketchy to me, but I went with it. I had yet to eat any local food, fearing for the revenge that often comes with that for me. But I braved it, and got down about half of my pho' - not quite as tasty as the stuff I have had back home, but I am sure each place varies a bit. I wasn't going to eat it at all, but Greg told me that I had to "take the plunge" at some point, which is true. I was fine until after breakfast this morning, which consists of free toast and jam, and coffee. Could have been the coffee or the pho' but I am hopeful that it won't be too bad! I am already feeling better, so keep your fingers crossed for me:) After lunch, we started walking again, and walked until after dark, again experiencing the sights and sounds of Hanoi. It seems like such a safe city to me, although I still didn't want to walk home alone in the dark (aren't you proud, dad?) so Bas walked with me. First though, the three of us shared what was my first Vietnamese beer (I think it's called Ban Hoi) which cost 15,000 dong, or $0.75. We sat with a couple from Sweden who were traveling with their 4-yr-old little boy. They said that although you have to change your priorities a bit, it's still very doable to travel with a child, which I think is awesome! On the walk back home, we randomly got to see a Chinese dragon performance with awesome drums, put on by what seemed like about 12-yr-old Chinese boys. Also, the weather was much more pleasant yesterday, and it seems beautiful today too, with more sun and warmer weather! My plan is to book a one-night trip to Ha Long Bay that is offered through the hostel, leaving tomorrow morning. They take us by bus, where we get to cruise around the limestone formations, and then we spend the night on the boat and come back the next afternoon. I really wanted to do the two-night trip that left today, but by the time we got back from our back from our trip to "find lunch" I wasn't able to sign up for it anymore. Going to post now, computer is being wierd!

Colorful Vietnam