Traffic and various views in Hanoi

Well lets see, first couple of pics are of the traffic, one at a red light(yes they stop at them in Hanoi and the view from a cab.

Middle pic is of the skyline of Hanoi or part of it from our hotel room at the Fortuna.

Last two are from Hoan Kiem Lake the bridge and the last is the pagoda on Turtle Island in the middle.

More photos later of the Ethnology Museum and other things. Enjoy

Photos of Hanoi Sights Temple of Literature

Ok Just a few shots of the Temple of Literature. A Must see while in Hanoi

Hanoi Hotels,Things To Do

OK This may be a long post as well but a few more things about Vietnam.

Hotels, In Hanoi we were very lucky and only stayed in two hotels. We flew to HCM first and did the tourist thing. There we stayed at the Kim Do Hotel. Pretty good and I would stay again. We stayed in Hanoi 1 night before traveling to Thanh Hoa to get our girl. That night we stayed in the Gaouman Hotel(spelling?) It was very very nice and ran around 175 for a triple. Breakfast was buffet of Asian and Western foods. Rooms very nice.

In Thanh Hoa we stayed in Sam Son on the coast at Van Chai Resort. All I will say it is like a little hidden paradise. They have a website but I cannot remember the address. I know you can google it. family Villa here on the beach was 70$ a night and the place was amazing.

The majority of our stay in Hanoi (16 days) we stayed at The Fortuna. It was right across the street from the US Embassy and around the corner from the consulate. It is a Korean or Japanese chain so caters to alot of businessmen from there. However it was a great hotel and the staff treated us wonderful. Buffet breakfast is the usual mix of western and Asian but good. They have three restaurants a Japanese sushi bar, did not eat there - expensive, a Chinese (wonderful) and a cafe in lobby (ok but Al fresco's is literally next door and same stuff. ) They also have a night club and bowling alley(yes I said that ) We had a triple it had room for three single beds, room for a crib and a good size bathroom. Housekeeping was great to us as was the restaurant and lobby staff. Internet is available in rooms and the business center had it for a fee. Laundry was expensive. A small market across the street provided cokes chips etc. and the Hapro down the street had diapers formula and pretty much anything else.

Hmmm things to do, of course shopping in the Old Quarter or anywhere else for that matter. Loads of parks with lakes you can walk around and relax or exercise. Temple of Literature(it was truly amazing) probably the #1 thing I would recommend to see. Museum of Ethnology is also great. It will take at least a half day to see properly and there is a nice cafe on grounds. Museum of Fine Art was nice and in an old French Municipal Building. traveling exhibit sucked but the pottery collection and exhibits on cultural arts and the people was on par with what we saw at the Museum of Ethnology. Hanoi Hilton Prison(Cannot remember actual name at the moment) Only a small portion is left but it is a moving experience, not just as US Soldiers were held there but to see what all happened at the hands of the French there. It is ugly but it is history. The memorial gardens they have at the site are very relaxing and a nice tribute. Vin Con Towers Mall. OK for a change of pace it is a fun place to go walk around and people watch. They have everything from Gucci and Versacci stores here to 5 and 10 discount places. Food court upstairs has a good selection also and the giant Citi Mart grocery store has tons and tons of stuff.Hoan Kim Lake. You just have to go it is great. People fishing exercise relaxing and yes the red bridge across the lake is a sight to see. A little temple sits on the island you cross to. We did spend a Sunday in the park at the Hanoi Zoo. Lets just say it is nothing like a zoo here but an adventure never the less. It is sort of a street fair, vendor, market, mini amusement park all around a lake. It was actually fun but Sundays is the day everyone gets out and just hangs out in the city so everywhere tends to be even more crowded that day. Oh and there is a skating rink at the zoo and it was fun to see all the kids skating to 1990s and 80s music .

Well I think I will post on shopping later

Enjoy

Eating in Hanoi A Subject I Love

Ok when and if you go to Hanoi there is food of all kinds available. You want it you can find it. The picky American palate(a shame in this place) and it is ok, Al Fresco's has pizza, ribs, pseudo Mexican and other western style dishes. Actually their ribs and wings are quite good and the pizza is ok in a pinch. Also The Press Club Restaurant and Deli serve western style meals and sandwiches. Really desperate for good ole' American there are several KFC's in Hanoi. I went once just to see how it stacked up. Chicken was ok, fries ok ketchup sucked!

In general I avoided western food as I live Asian cuisine as well as food from other parts of the world. I imagine there are other good western eats but I do not know as I really did not look for them. Now for what I liked.

1. Quan An Ngan. This is a very traditional Vietnamese restaurant. when we were there we were the only non Vietnamese until a group of Aussies came in as we were leaving. One of our in country facilitators took us here and said it was one of her favorite places. Well it was packed and we had to wait put oh man was it worth it. We had grilled rice cakes, fried tofu, a pork ball and noodle soup, spring rolls, shrimp fritters and ginger chicken wings with rice. All was topped off by a seaweed and coconut milk shake. The place was amazing and for 4 people all of that food cost something like 8 dollars US. I would rate it as my number 1 favorite place to eat here.
Address is
18 Phan Boi Chau
Quan Hoan Kiem Hanoi

2. Lan Van ( Spelling is wrong I know and I forgot the address)
We went here twice and both times also amazing. It was a close second to the above. Hmm like above it is served Vietnamese style lots of dishes and you get alittle at a time in your bowl. Ok some of the things we had, beef with chili and lemongrass, chicken and lemon, glazed pork in clay pot(amazing), variety of spring rolls, grilled corn, eggplant, squid and chicken salad(not like a salad you are thinking and very good), sauteed veggies in claypot, a great spinach dish and cabbage stew which was also great. Entire meal for 9 persons was around 25$

3. Dinh Lang Thuy Resturant. This place is a little pricey by Vietnamese standards($7-10 a person) and you choose from several set menus. For ours we had spring roll starters, a spicy hot beef salad, grilled fish, Vietnamese bbq pork, Vietnamese veggie soup and lotus wrapped rice topped of with great ice cream for dessert. Location is amazing as it over look Hoan Kiem Lake. Address is
1 Le Thai To St. 2nd floor.

4. Street food, well I ate at several street food vendors, from beef or pork balls, to pho to kebabs all were amazing and you cannot list them all, be brave and give it a shot.

5. Brothers Cafe. This is also a little pricey but worth it to try alot of different things.(14$ a person) It is a huge Vietnamese buffet and BBQ set in the courtyard of a french villa. They have roast suckling pig and carve what you want right there. They grill fresh as you watch a variety of meats poultry and seafood(you name it they have it. There is also so many rice noodle and other dishes you will be stuffed to try them all. They have 4 different ladies making all kinds of soups fresh as you watch. We went once it was worth it but other cheaper places. Oh the desserts were great here.
26 Nguyen Thai Hoc St.

6.Tandoor Hanoi. If you like Indian food you have to go here. I had probably one of the best chicken vindaloos i have ever had. Garlic nan bread awesome as well. three of us ate here for 9$
24 Hang Be St
Hoan Kiem Dist.

7. Cyclobar. It is a cool concept, sit in old cyclos to eat. Not quite as authentic Vietnamese but still good. We wanted to try some Vietnamese French fusion why we were here and this place did not disappoint. Starter was Taste of Hanoi, It was grilled prawns, calamari and spring rolls with fish sauce to dip..BTW fish sauce is everywhere and I love it. Our meal was grilled duck breast over scalloped potatoes with veggies and a caramelized apple sauce. It was sinful it was so good. Dessert was probably the best I had in Hanoi. I had bignets with ice cream and chocolate sauce and the wife had chocolate mousse. Both amazing. Entire meal was about 14 dollars including wine and beer.
38 Duong Thanh St.

8. Shark Fin restaurant Hotel Fortuna. Ok it was in a hotel but pretty good Chinese food. We had sauteed veggies and a duck in black pepper sauce with rice. very good and was about 10$. he hotel food tends to be a little more pricey but all in all ok.

Strangest thing I ate? Pickled jellyfish. It was pretty good, and finally authentic kimchee was great. Sea cucumber was good but texture kind of funny. The seaweed and coconut milkshake while very good was just way to sweet for me. You just have to be adventurous and have the guts to say order for me, heck I will try it. I tried many kinds of foods some i would eat over and over some not ever again(durian) but just go for it. Funny thing I ate so much of the local food when I got home my sister said I smelled funny as i was sweating. MMM god I love that fish sauce!LOL!

Home and Resting

well it took about 36 hours but we made it home Sunday night. Give me a few days and I will post some things about the trip, tips etc. I have posted some on Vietnam travel yahoo board about some things available in Hanoi like diapers etc. I will gather thoughts and do a complete run down here maybe after Thanksgiving. Plus I will get more pics up. Until than have a good Thanksgiving

we are outta here

well we had our meeting today get our visa tomorrow and leave saturday morning. we should be home early sunday yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok lets try the pics again

well here are three pics of the reason why we are halfway around the world

Still Waiting

Well it is miday here in Hanoi and again no word from CIS about our second apporintment. It is beginning to feel like we are being held hostage by the US Government. I hate to sound negative but it really does seem they do not give a ssecond thought to the families here. We have callled back as have our agency reps here in country and basicallly got the dont call us we will call you.I just love to see our hard earned taxc money being put to such good use.

This is not any reflection on the people or government of Vietnam. The people have been wonderful to us. I am ready to go home as are all of the families but I will have some great memories and look forward to coming back under less stressful means. Well keep you fingers crossed and hope we get home by Thanksgiving although I am starting to have my doubts

More Waiting in Hanoi

Yes we are still in Hanoi. We had our first interview on Nov 1 and are just waiting for a call back for the second part. Passport med checkup and everything else is done , just waiting on USCIS to get us our paperwork back so we can go home. I know with the change in the process of paperwork is maybe taking longer and they told us there was a back log in HCM where final approval comes from so hopefully today or tomorrow we get the interview part 2 and go home.

Hanoi is a great city loads to do and pretty much anything you need you can get here. Diapers formula baby food wipes you name it and it is available. A bag of 20 Huggies diapers cost 90,000 dong which is about $5.50 US So I can tell you no need to back tons of stuff like mentioned above, it is here and easy to get, hapro and Citi Mart(two market chains in Hanoi have all you need)

Well more later if we get word, we may have to switch hotels if this drags out much longer and well it gets expensive after awhile plus changing flights etc. So maybe word real soon

Hanoi Update

well we have been in Hanoi for a week now. Sadie has adjusted wonderfully to all of us and is quite a little mess. She likes to eat, alot. We had our first interview at the embassy on Thursday and all went fine. lasted all of 5 minutes and we talked more about comparing Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh than anything else. The gentleman who interviewed us was very nice and no problems. We also applied for her passport and had her physical done for her visa. Looks like next Wednesday we pick up the passport and physical paperwork and hopefully have interview 2 weds. or Thursday to go home. Keep you fingers crossed.

About Hanoi, be adventurous and it is great. We found a citi mart at Vin Com towers with everything you need. diapers formula wipes. an entire wall, they had pampers huggies and other brands and wipes aplenty. formula of every type and if you need cereal or that stuff all of that is readily available in Hanoi as well. we over packed for sure as you can get pretty much anything you need if you just get out a little.

A lot of shopping has happened. It feels like we have purchased several thousand dollars of stuff and have only spent about 200$ This includes all kins of silk items robes purses etc. get out and explore the old city and the deals are great.

Visited the Temple of Literature yesterday. Words cannot describe it, it is an amazing place. Just go if you are in Hanoi. Finally we had a traditional 10 course Vietnamese meal last night. Oh my god it was amazing. Had soup then a prawn and pork salad then grilled shrimp etc etc etc. Amazing and all for just 13$ a person drinks included.

Ok more later all is well great city, only think getting old is living in a suitcase, get past that and you will love this place.