Having a great time in Han Noi!

Well, I've made it to Viet Nam safely - and so far everything is wonderful!  I only have 10 minutes to write before I head out to breakfast and then it's off to Halong Bay for the day.  We'll be swimming and hanging out on a boat - it should be a great time! So here are some highlights:

The Flights:

The flights were really great - Korean Air was wonderful, they had a gluten free menu for me (with some pretty tasty airline food, all things considered).  I watched four movies on the first flight, read, and napped a little.  We made it into Seoul without any problems.  The Seoul Airport was a nice layover - we found a quiet place to read and there was even a Gloria Jean's coffee kiosk - that had soy milk!  Then we took a shorter flight (4.5 hours) to Han Noi, where customs was easy, our bags made it, and the tour company driver was waiting to take us to the hotel!  We arrived at the hotel at about 12:30 local time with no problems!

The Hotel:

We are at the Anise Hotel here in Han Noi.  It's a nice little hotel - all the full amenities that you would expect and it doesn't feel any different than any other hotel I've stayed in, except that you can't drink the water.  The rooms are spartan, but with everything you need, and the showers are hot.  Our AC broke on Saturday and within an hour, they had us all set up in another room (AC is a necessity here, if only for the humidity).  The breakfast here is also really good - there are a mix of Vietnamese and Western options.  I've been having pho (which is pronounced 'fur') as much as possible - it's the local rice noodle soup dish and very yummy!  We've also been introduced to some new fruits - lychee, dragonfruit, mangostine, and something else that looks like a red kiwi fruit with little seeds inside (I forgot it's name).  The food has been completely wonderful!

The Tour:

There are seven of us on the tour: me and SF, a retired couple from California who have traveled the world, a "uni" student from London who is touring Southeast Asia before starting a study abroad program in Singapore, a Londoner on a six month holiday, and an Aussie who just finished up University and is celebrating before going back and starting the police academy.  Our guide is an Aussie - he's done this particular tour twice before and he's been doing tours in Southeast Asia for over a year.  He's going to be with us for the whole trip and we meet up with local guides as we go along.  Kim, our Han Noi guide, is great.  He has two little boys and has been wonderful in telling us about his country and his city.  He is so incredibly knowledgable and has been able to answer all of our silly questions!

What we've done:

This is quick, because it's time for breakfast - but more will come later:

Massages and pedicures at the spa

Lunch with an expat friend of a friend

Dinner at some great local restaurants

Drinks at the local Vietnamese/Aussie guy's bar - it's the UN with beer!

The Ethnology Musuem - learning about Viet Nam's ethnic groups around the country

Home stay in a remote ethnic Thai village - complete with dancing, local spirits, and a very large cricket who terrorized me from the top of my mosquito netting!

Broke down on the side of the road on the way to the homestay - but we got to watch rice harvesting and meet some of the locals while we waited for the new bus.  Overall, a very pleasant experience!

Free time yesterday - SF went back for another massage and I found a coffee shop.  The lattes and mocha aren't half bad, but soy milk is hard to come by.

Water puppet show last night - I'll explain more later!

And now, it's off to Halong Bay - I'm taking lots of pictures and I'll update more when I have more time!  Tomorrow we are touring the city on cyclo and then we are taking an overnight train ride to Hue.  It's been a wonderful time - I'll try to upload pictures soon!  I miss everyone!!