Vietnam: Hanoi

Oh my gosh...we thought Bangkok was crazy, but it is nothing compared to Hanoi! Hanoi is loud and crazy, busy and wild. Trying to cross the street here can be a matter of life and death...well, not really, but it feels like it! The traffic is insane! At a four-way intersection, everyone goes for it at the same time...buses, cars, trucks, people, bicycles, motorcycles - you have never seen so much mayhem - and miraculously, no one crashes! Trying to navigate the streets is pretty crazy. The sidewalks are all used up as either parking lots for motorcycles and mopeds or for people sitting on stools eating food, so the only way to get down the road is to walk in the street and try with all of your might not to get run over. People are honking incessantly to let you know they are coming and no one stops for you if you are crossing the street...you have to just make a frantic run for it! Red lights seem to be merely "suggestions" and the person with the right-of-way seems to be whoever is bigger - if you are a bus, you have it made. Everyone here is trying to get you to buy pirated books (but no one seems to have Eclipse, the third Twilight book...depressing), fruit, a ride on their bike, and even drugs! Nathan and I got offered marijuana twice in about two minutes one night when we were walking down the street. You are so used to cheerily saying "no thank you" every time someone tries to sell you something, that we politely responded, "no thanks" with a smile before we realized that they were offering us drugs and not fruit or something more benign! It was pretty funny. They just smile politely and go on their way. One thing about Vietnamese people is that they are the sweetest, friendliest, smiliest, most genuine people. People will strike up conversations with you when walking down the street to practice their English and find out where you are from. They are so helpful and kind and we are having so much fun meeting people along the way!

(typical intersection in Hanoi)

(the powerlines are just as insane as the traffic - so much going on at once)

(it is amazing the amount of stuff people fit onto their motorcycles)

(street food in Hanoi)

From Hanoi, we booked a trip to go out on a cruise to Halong Bay. We spent two days and one night cruising along the bay in an old junk boat - which was actually pretty nice and had great food! The bay has these huge limestone karsts rising out of the water and it is pretty stunning.