Oh my! If it is possible to fall in love with a destination, then I may have done it! I certainly want a second date tomorrow. It is Saturday here and 12 hours later than those of you in St. Louis. I got in okay last night but even with my lack of sleep while traveling, I was wired and didn't fall asleep until after 2am. I still was up by 6 am, without an alarm and had completed an entire walk around Hoan Kiem Lake in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. Sunrise was spectacular and the narrow park surrounding the lake was already filled with walkers, runners, exercisers, lovers and badminton players. This town gets an early jump on the weekend. I got some images I really like but didn't discover I was only capturing RAW images, so I have no jpegs to post. Sorry but you will have to wait on those till I return. The good news is I have found a way to post images, albeit one at a time.
I was back in time to meet my guide Zoom, and off we went. Started with some steet food of broth, noodles and lightly fried eel. A very typical breakfast and satisfyingly good. Low plastic stool and no table, I didn't feel like a tourist at all, and at $2.50 USD for both of us, I didn't pay like one either. As we walked through more of Hanoi, we stopped for an iced Vietnamese coffee (3000 dong, about 15 cents for both), sat on the sidewalk and chatted about a plan for the rest of the day. Well I wanted to just wander the streets and see what they brought. Well, they brought it. Such a visual city. I don't want to say everyone can get great images here, but as my new friend and expat Dave said, "It is a target rich environment".
Dave is from Houston, living here for two years now and a friend of Zoom's and we joined him for another coffee and then we all went to another joint for some bun cha, a pork (2 ways), broth, papaya, fresh garlic, spicy chilis, lime juice and fresh herbs. Another winner and only $5 for all 3 of us. Then wandered back to the hotel, shooting all the way. Till the next post...
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