Back in my room,

Finally, Coke Zero and ice cream. Pogey bait. (No pogeys in my room tho, it's just for me). It was warm and humid tonight, and I walked for about 3-4 hours, so the room felt great.
My bathroom has a scale in it. Haven't gained any weight. That's a relief since I don't always know what I'm eating. The jungle trek helped too I'm sure.

I'm still trying to figure out my return plans. But tomorrow I plan on more Hanoi exploring. And I'll get a little more adventurous in the eating department. I've been careful this trip since I didn't want to get the craps (or worse) with a week left. If it happens now I could live with it tho. YOLO as the kids say.

Hoa Lo Prison at night.

This is the notorious Hanoi Hilton. The main prison for our POWs during the Vietnam war. I'll visit here more tomorrow during the day, and I'll be able to enter it so more on that later.
The light is shining on the top edge of the tall wall. If you look close you can see the broken glass implanted into the mortar to serve as a deterrent for climbing the wall to escape.
This prison was put up by the French in the 1880s to house Viet prisoners. You probably remember the term 'French Indochina.' I won't get into a geography lesson, but the Frenchies colonized this part of the world back in the day. The French set a bad precedent here at this prison.

St. Joseph's Cathedral, and...

...more street food! I couldn't help but get a couple of these meats on a skewer. (Pig on a Twig maybe?)
They were sausages deep fried then covered with peanut and coconut and I think garlic, with something sweet mixed in. About 45 cents each (10,000 dong). Tasty.
The Cathedral is beautiful and old. Built in 1886. After the Viet Minh took over in the 50s they arrested priests and the churches were shut down. This one was re-opened for mass in 1990. It overflows when Sunday mass is going on. The moon was over the top of it.
I ventured through some back streets or alleys. I felt safe but a little uncomfortable. They meander and make sharp turns, and some of them end. They're mostly for access to residences. There's mor on the video I'll post tomorrow.

Hoan Kiem lake

Lots of families here. Kind of s Central Park vibe but not as big. This isn't the main lake in Hanoi but still looked popular. There are still lots of celebratory displays for the Tet new year. Lots of people exercising, even jogging. And dogs. One thing I noticed is that the dogs I saw in Hanoi were well behaved and groomed. And kinda funny looking but still nice.

To Hoan Kiem lake

Hanoi has lots of ponds and lakes in the city. I walked to this one just to check it out.
On the way I went into lots of shops selling various stuff. There were a lot of The North Face stores and other clothing stores. I guess you never know if it's for real or not, but it looked real to me. Lots of western places too. KFC and of course Circle K.

...more from the streets

Just some random pics. I'll post video later to show what the streets really look like.

First night in Hanoi

I left the hotel to walk around and grab some chow. I ended up staying out until around 8:30.
As you can see, it's busy in the streets. But it's orderly too (except for the motorbikes being everywhere). Most of the streets are fairly narrow. Crossing them is a trick. For the most part people obeyed the streetlights though.
A lot of people wheel around the streets with their food staples to sell. They usually go to the eateries. Bread lettuce melons spices etc.
Hanoi is known for its 'Street Food.' There are cafe's and places to eat everywhere. Some of the eateries are nothing more than a couple choices of food items that are being made out in front of a store or someone's family room. Others have 8-20 seats at tables. You are expected to take a seat in those, and don't expect your own table--just sit next to someone and say hello. If they speak English you're in for a treat.
The smells of food are everywhere! Near grease spices chilies garlic the list goes on. It's common to get a big serving of rice noodles with a meal. They're mostly tasteless and served cold. Most meals are somewhat soupy and you just add the noodles as you eat. Also, the leafy greens aren't there to eat separate. You add them to the soupy meal with the noodles, or wrap drier meals in the lettuce. 'Beef in a leaf' I call it. I had the combo 1.
Oh yeah-those chilies: they will kill you if you're not careful. Hot, but very flavorful. They're usually mixed with raw garlic. You add it to your soup to taste. I didn't know that until the lady pointed twice at the chilies, and twice at the soup. Makes sense.

The Guidebook

These are just some of the pages I took snapshots of to reference during my walking around. They were great sources coupled with the Google Map app on my phone. I made sure to download the Google map of the area for offline use. I could type in a restaurant or address and it would guide me.
I have pretty good navigation abilities and a good sense of direction, but these streets did me in!
The Google map app snapshot is pretty much the area I walked around. You can see the Art Trendy Hotel located at the top:

Driving to the Art Trendy Hotel

Here's the vid:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVbcJaE3OzM

The hotel is amazing. Any of the starred hotels in the Lonely Planet guidebook have been spot on. I was greeted warmly by the whole staff like I was some VIP. They brought me into their small dining room and gave me fruit juice and fruit and a cold hand towel to wash up with. I thought they were trying to sell me something. But nope. They then brought me to my room (the poor little gal wanted to take my heavy bag but I insisted I roll it up), made sure it was acceptable and told me all the features, etc. $42 a night!  There's a pic of my room and the view outside. Best room I had in Vietnam. It has a separate living area with a couch. I took s quick nap--don't know why I was so tired. Then headed out into the streets of Hanoi. 

AJ

On deck--Hanoi

The No Bai airport is a good 45 minute drive to the city center. The route crosses the famous Red River which goes deep into China.