Hanoi: First Impressions...

Me and Tiffers in Hanoi.

Anna-Karin and David. We first met then on our bus ride from hell from Laos to Cambodia. We have been keeping in touch with them and meeting up with them throughout Cambodia and Vietnam. This is our last night hanging out with them. Aww.

The girls. A night out in Hanoi for Tiffany's birthday. A bit of a gong show but we had fun =)

Playing frisbee in Hanoi with a Vietnamese guy, David and Anna-Karin. Tiff trying to get the frisbee out of the tree with her flip flop! This is before we had a work-out with skipping rope and such. I was skipping and this Vietnamese woman around 35 joined me and we skipped double dutch. It was hilarious. Then we had a gazillion Veitnamese taking photos of us. Apparently it's rare to see foreigners exercise in public?

We arrived in Hanoi this morning at 6:30am after spending a total of 17 hours on a bus. Our first impressions of Hanoi were not super positive. After being pestered by numerous motor drivers trying to get us to stay in their guesthouses (I hate wandering around with backpacks on: it's the worst b/c you're prey to any guesthouse owner, taxi driver and even random motorbike drivers) We said "no" firmly (you have to in Vietnam) which was reciprocated by F' you and a string of curses in Vietnamese no doubt. We were shocked and 5 minutes later the same thing by a different guy. What's the deal! It's Tiffany's birthday today so I just smiled at her and wished her "Happy Birthday!"

After finding a guesthouse, some breakfast and wandering around a little we warmed up to this city. It's definitely the dirtiest city so far in Vietnam but there are friendly people here too. I've never experienced such rudeness up until the two guys this morning. Ah well, water off our backs. =) It's chaotic here and Hanoi holds a certain intrigue for me.

I'm off for a nap I think...