OK...so we arrived in Hanoi, coming from Laos last night - and there is a massive temperature difference. Just an hour before, we had been basking in the 25C+ sunshine and then we land, in Hanoi, cold and dark.
We awoke today to misty rain - not a nice thing for a girl who is thinking she is in the land of sunshine and does not own a hat, jacket, raingear or anything much warm other than her jeans - so we went shopping and bought a nice cute, WARM had for me - and then when the rain kept coming down and we started to get wet, a pink with red polka dotted disposable poncho for me, and a yellow with pink polka dotted disposable poncho for Kiev (he thought the yellow was sans dots, but no, he looks as much a goof as I do).
We wandered the city streets, getting our bearings and went to the Mausoleum, thinking it was Thursday today, but alas, it is Friday and most things are closed. We went to the Temple of Literature instead...a nice green space in the middle of the city parts of which date back to 1067...a beautiful spot....
We wandered again through the rain, back towards our hotel - chosen for it's name - the Mahn Dung - and got some Bun Go (noddles, bean sprouts, peanuts, some soupy sauce and hot sauce on the side) on the way - at a tiny road side hallways type cafe - very delish - at a cost of about $3 for the both of us, including a Pepsi.
We headed back to our room to get a bit dry - and do some research on the weather and determine our plans for the next few days/weeks - Tet is coming - and it is going to be a big, busy party....
