The next chapter...Our Arabian Adventure: Hanoi Part I

Our third October Holiday while living in Shanghai…it really is hard to believe that! This is our first without the Watt Family, and it’s just not quite the same. Greg is not falling into parked motorbikes, Di is not becoming best friends with the locals and Alysha and I are not eating street pancakes. Nonetheless, it’s still pretty awesome so far!

Things started off on Saturday morning quite well. We left our apartment and got to the city airport in about 10 minutes! The line for China Southern was speedy, customs was quick, all was well. Our first flight was to Guangzhou, one of my least favorite airports. The flight was much shorter than anticipated and it was a quick stay in the Guang. Our next flight was straight to Hanoi, another short distance. We landed and were off to get our Visas on arrival. Of course we didn’t bring US dollars for this, which we were told was the only form of currency they would take. We only had RMB, and although I think we paid more than others, they took it and it was time to find our driver to the hotel.

It was another 45 minute ride to the Meracus Hotel, making our trip now about 10 hours since the time we left our apartment in Shanghai. However, when we arrived, I saw one of the most amazing sights…SHOES! Shoes were EVERYWHERE!!! Our hotel is on the street of shoe shops. I couldn’t believe our luck. Travis was not expressing his enthusiasm, but I am sure he felt the same. It was such a beautiful sight! Oh, and our hotel was great too. The bed had pretty flower petals on it and the sink was full of water with floating flowers. Cute little touches that made it an inviting sight. It’s not a big room, mind you nothing is really big in Vietnam, but it is clean, has a great shower, comfy bed and fantastic location (remember the shoes?). There are also tons of other shops and plenty of bars and restaurants near us. We couldn’t ask for more.

Shoes!

Our Hotel

Our first night we ate some delicious Vietnamese dinner at a restaurant near our hotel and then went to another restaurant to sip some beer from a second floor balcony and do some people watching. To say the traffic here is nuts, is an understatement. For example, when we checked into our hotel, they gave us a map and a paper titled “Travelling Advice in Hanoi”, number 1- How to cross roads. Yep. Pretty dicey, but they say to be relaxed and confident and you should survive…so far so good.

After an 11 hour night sleep (apparently we were exhausted from the first month and a half of school), we headed to our breakfast. It was great! One of my favorite things here in Vietnam is the amazing coffee with condensed milk. It’s a perfect way to start the day (and then drink later in the day as well)! We decided today would be a day of shopping, eating, drinking coffee and drinking beer near our hotel. It is now mid afternoon and we are beat! I think it is now siesta time…

Some sights from today: