Day 2- Safe in Hanoi

Today was the second day of the trip and definitely it was great being out of Seoul! Last night was quite an adventure! I came into Hanoi and was instantly shocked at how many people were trying to trick me. At the airport the first taxi I encountered tried to get me to pay $15, the next $8 and finally I got one for $3 so I was in a bus full of Vietnamese and then I headed to the popular Old District in Hanoi to find a hotel for the night.

Once I was in the Old District of Hanoi, I was amazed at how many whizzing autobikes there were. It was completely mindblowing but I wasn't surprized. I was actually a little shocked at how beautiful the city was. There were benches and white lights surrounding the lake located in the center of the district and it seemed as thought it was almost a European city instead of an asian one.

I was completely exhausted though, and just wanted to sleep but I didn't want to get scammed so I did my best to walk around and look for a good place to stay. I finally found a really nice hostel but I didn't want to sleep in a room of bunkbeds and noisy foreingers so I asked the owner if he could recommend a nice hotel with air conditioning, tv, and shower for me. He was wonderful and drove me to his friends hotel which was perfect! I checked in to the $18 a night hotel and then went out to wander the city and find some food.

I found a cute restaurant that had some outside tables. I ordered a pink lady cocktail and some veggies and noodles and sat down to read my Lonely Planet travel guide and relax. I felt great and was just loving the fact I was being independent and traveling the world.

OF course when I was just trying to be independent and enjoying it, that is like a sign for obnoxious men to try to talk to me. That is the problem! When you are alone people always assume you want to be talked to... so I had a little annoyance of talking to some obnoxious men and then finally was back to my book and cocktail!

Anyway, after my 100,000 dong dinner (about $5 US) I headed back to the hotel to get some sleep. I woke up to the sounds of knocking on the door. Who was it?????? Robyn?????? No it wasn't...Just housekeeping....

Then about an hour later as I was organizing my things I heard another knock at the door. "Robyn?" ......

"YEAH!!!" Hey girl! It was so great to see her and catch up on all the gossip and here about her travels. We got my stuff and moved to her hotel and I met her travel buddy she had met along the way named Helen and we all went and grabbed lunch at a cute restaurant overlooking the lake. I LOVE HANOI!!!!!

Later, I went on a little adventure by myself. I had really wanted to go for a nice jog, so I asked this scooter driver to drive me to this larger lake I had heard about. He drove me there and waited for me to run and then drove me back. The whole adventure was amazing because I got to ride around on the back of a scooter all over the city and then got to run and enjoy the beautiful day. He was such a nice guy and he waited the whole time I was running and it only cost me $5.

Then Robyn, Helen, and I went to the famous Water Puppet Show. It was cool and really cheap. Basically, these puppets are dancing above the water and do little skits in Vietnamese.

So, that is my up to the moment play by play! I hope you are happy Mom! I promise to upload and put lots of photos up soon!

Also, here is the Vietnamese I have learned (although this may be terribly wrong)

Hello- Shin Cao

Goodbye- Dam Bien

Thank You- Com On

Soooo Dam Bien for now~