FOOD!!!

The table.



No I didn't go swimming, that's sweat. But who cares, the chicken was amazing and so was the tofu. One of the tofu dishes had onions in it and it tasted kinda like a McD's cheese burger! It was good haha..



Hil eating lots of tofu! mmm...I'm excited to go back to Ha Noi at the end...I'm gonna eat everything.



Delicious mocktails at a little fancyish cafe in Ha Noi.

Hello from Hue

Hello!

Ok, quick update; we are in Hue, not Dong Hoi. After another hellish bus station experience, where our taxi driver dropped us off a block away from the hidden bus station and pointed us in the wrong direction. Luckily we were accompanied by another couple going to the same station because they gave the driver their hotel's card (they do the booking) and the driver called and figured it out. Anyway, everyone at the bus station was white and stressed. The transportation systems here are a mess. no one knows whats going on, not even the vietnamese! But theres always a sweet heart or two in there somewhere who does know and isnt trying to take advantage of you in a confusing situation.

So we got on the "sleeper bus" (HAH!!) headed south to Dong hoi. it was hot and cramped with no toilet. The "air con" that was promised was worthless and everyone was basically lying in sweat. hehe..it doesnt even bother me anymore! Once you accept the fact that you're going to be wet always and delirious most of the time, it's not so bad. But on the way we started to get a little uncomfortable with the idea of being dropped off in a small town, with no hotel booked at 4am. Not to mention, everyone else was skipping Dong Hoi and going straight to Hue. So we asked if we could skip the stop and keep going. The guy was annoyed when he finally understood us, but on we went.

Now we're in a nice hotel at a good price and Hilary's doing the laundry..IN A TUB!! (haven't seen a tub since we got here) hey, i offered. :) anyway, I think I slept for about an hour, so I don't know if this makes sense. it's 12:43pm and bedtime. But I guess we'll have to perk up and giter' done'd.

We're having a great time despite all the difficulties involved with getting around. The food is amazing and everyone is eating constantly. In Ha Noi we found a couple of really great places to eat. A small spot with mostly vietnamese eaters, where hilary's only option is noodles, but mine is Bun Cha, one of my favourate things to eat. The other place is a small street side place that does a lot of delivery to workers during the lunch hour (that's how i knew to go there. Also no white people.), and also makes a few mean tofu dishes, as well as some wonderful chicken and pork. "cheap cheap"! about $3.75US for a table full of food. Now I'm hungry.

Ok, we miss everyone and we love you's.
See you soon..ish..

E

Here's a photo or two from cat ba island...just one because it's taking too long.

Hello from Hanoi

Well we're here, in Hanoi! We survived our flights (really, they weren't that bad) and we had no problems getting our visa or going through customs. We got a ride to our guest house (Tung Trang I), which was a good first taste of the city's haphazard traffic and crazy honking. The guest house is run by a lovely woman who has already been very helpful. Our room is also quite lovely.

After settling in we had our first taste of street food. I wasn't too hungry so I thought I'd just go for a drink. Erik pointed at a few things on the menu (which was actually just heaps of food sitting out, ready to be dished onto plates) - shrimp, pork, tofu - and then we sat down. They brought us TWO plates of what he pointed at... so I passed the pork on to Erik and ate my rice and tofu and some shrimp too. Oh the good old language barrier - I'm sure this kind of miscommunication will happen many times over :) Also we must remember that $1 = 18,000 Vietnam Dong (because we think we were overcharged just a bit). Anyhow, it was tasty! And we got to eat sitting out on the street with the locals.

Our meal at the Hong Kong airport (Ramen noodles with pork/with Veggies) was our first non-airplane meal. It was a fast food type of thing, but delicious! Just for fun, here's what my almost fully eaten meal looked like:

It really is nice here. Loud, humid and a bit dirty - but beautiful and somehow calm despite the noise and traffic. I'm sure we'll get a better idea of the city over the next few days... and now it's time to relax.

BIG P.S. Just realized there is no facebook in Vietnam. Communism = facebook blackout.