Day 2: More of Hanoi

Before we take our night train to Lao Cai, we walked around in Hanoi again. Sounds like a lot of exploring in the Old Quarter but somehow there’s never enough time. Hmm..is the Old Quarter that big? Nah…

Almost every roadside or old eatery you see, the tables and chairs are reduced twice or thrice in size. In other words, they use what my 5 year old niece uses to do homework. Wait, do I have a 5 year old niece? Hmm…okaaayyy that’s not really important, is it?

A guy smoking pipe. Luckily he didn’t give me a piece of his mind when I took his picture. Over the next few days we realized that not everyone likes their picture being taken.

Woman pushing a cart selling shoes.

On the way to the Temple of Literature (Van Mieu). Finally some ordered traffic! The reason for it would probably be because the government buildings, embassies, etc are close by.

People selling things in front of Van Mieu. The old man at the rightmost end of the picture was really shy. Since I can’t see old man who has to work earnestly, I bought a chicken figurine from him for VD 10000.

That’s my chicken.

The doctors stelae in Van Mieu. Students can be seen touching the heads of the tortoises and then subsequently touching their own heads so they can do well in exams. I was trying to take a candid picture of this girl but she got suspicious so my friend pretended to pose for me. So fake hehe~ :P

The Van Mieu is very big so if you’re wondering where the entrance is, it’s on the Quoc Tu Giam street. Don’t be like us, circling the place before finally reaching the entrance.

View from the Flag Tower. We weren’t allowed to take pictures from above; a grumpy woman guards the tower making sure nobody snaps any pictures but my friend managed to steal one. I'm not going to get sued for this am I?

Many tourist attractions close from 11 AM to 2 PM and on Mondays and Fridays, so it’s advisable that you check the operation hours first before you make your plans.

There was some confusion on the time we depart to the train station so I ended up not having the time to bathe, while the 3 guys (Miss Malaysia 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd) rushed to bathe with whatever little time we have. Princesses.

We got a 6 berth cabin despite paying $90 for the tour. However, we got a 4 berth cabin on the way back but the interior of that train was much older.

Great place to flaunt your yoga skills. Can’t imagine how the tall Caucasians would manage the what little space they get.

To end this entry, let's look at one 'lapchai' we came across.

'Lapchai' means handsome. There were many lapchai-s, most of them are in uniforms, but we only managed to take his picture. What a waste of the rest!