We Made It!

Well, after a grueling 24 hour journey through the Canadian, Chinese, and Vietnamese airport systems, we made it to our hotel in Hanoi!

                                             Leaving Victoria

We were picked up at the airport by our hotel and enjoyed one hour of thrilling Vietnamese driving. In their "system" there are quite literally no rules. Everyone can do as they please when driving, and turn intentions are communicated via a series of blasts on the horn. When we arrived, our twenty minute power nap quickly turned into a several hour sleep, intermittently punctuated by attempts at getting up. We had a delicious dinner and a beer at the restaurant nearby and the bill came to three dollars each, not bad! After dinner we set out to venture the neighbourhood around our hotel and found it very pleasant. We were not hassled by any of the locals and soon returned back to the hotel for the evening because we didn't have a map and didn't want to get lost ... yet.

Views from our balcony.

Tomorrow we plan to do some exploring through the city to find Chris a rain jacket and work on our bartering skills.  According to one of the hotel employees, we are a two minute walk away from Hoan Kiem Lake, so we take a stroll around the lake and explore the local markets as well.

More to come once we have fully explored the city!

Candice, Chris, and Andrew