Good morning Vietnam!

Vietnam has been incredibly great so far!!!

Kat and I flew into Hanoi a few days ago from Vientiane on Laos Airlines. I was pretty impressed by how good the service was not only with the airline but also the lack of rip-offs as we exited the country. Laos officials are notorious for ripping off tourists but at the airport they were very professional and fair.

In Hanoi we've been staying in the old quarter which has been incredibly fun. The streets are narrow and there's people and scooters flying all over the place, but the people and the food are terrific! For people that know Kiet, they'll understand what I mean when I say that I understand how Vietmanese Kiet really is: they'll yell at you for your stupidity but they'll still go out of their way to help you - it's just that sometimes is difficult to tell the two situations apart!

The other day Kat and I had to cross an incredibly busy street. Mind you, we're quite used to busy streets after Calcutta, Mumbai, Bangkok, etc., but in Vietnam the streets are not only crowded but damn fast! Anyways, a young Vietnamese man grabs Kat's arm and walks us across the street with his hand held out towards traffic in a show of "stop for these foolish white folks." After we're across and just as I'm sure he wants to sell us a tour package or a ride on a rickshaw he takes off back through traffic before we could even thank him! I don't know what the Buddhist version of a good samaritan is but this nice man certainly lived to that same ideal.

After two days in Hanoi we went on a 3-day boat cruise through Halong Bay. Halong bay is a series of karst islands. They jut straight out of the sea making for a dramatic landscape of thousands of islands. I'll get pictures up as soon as I can find a decent internet cafe but right now this isn't one of them! On our cruise we were fed excellent seafood and we were dropped off at various spots to enjoy kayaking, biking, hiking, and of course some beach time. One beach we kayaked to was completely made of small coral. Of course that true of all beaches, but this one in particular had large chunks and beautiful shells everywhere! But the best aspect of the trip were the wonderful people that we met. We spent the full 3-days in the company of Simon and Jane from Australia and James and Hazel from Ireland. We had a great time getting to know these people and hopefully we can meet up with them again down the road. If any of you are reading this, thank you for such a good time! Trips like Halong Bay never feel that great unless you're in good company and Kat and I both felt that we definitely were!

We've seen a lot of sights in Hanoi but one of my favorites is the Bia Hoi junction. This intersection sells fresh beer that tastes like a weak pilsner. But at 3,000 dong a pint it can't be passed up! Plus the seating is in tiny plastic chairs in the street so the entertainment of watching people and scooters go by makes for a good time. But the most excitement comes when the police come through: it seems that these shops are running a little bit against the law because each time a police car comes through the proprietors panic and make everyone grab their beers and themselves and cram together on the sidewalk in front of the tiny shop. Of course they don't speak english so I have no idea why this happens but its good fun so I just go along with it :)

Today Kat and I will enjoy our last day in Hanoi before taking the night bus to Hue. Our bus sounds pretty spectacular so I'm crossing my fingers that it works out. At the good advice of Ty and Emily we booked a get-on/get-off whenever you want bus that goes down the coast of Vietnam through Sinh Cafe. They even gave us a free t-shirt!