Hanoi, while similar in size and pace to Ho Chi Minh City, seemed somewhat less "western-ized," i.e., we didn't see McDonalds or any other major chain stores or restaurants. Upon our arrival, we were treated to the most impressive honeymoon display to date in our hotel room.
Suppose they don't call it the "Hanoi Charming Hotel 2" for nothing.
We did a little sightseeing, taking a stroll around one of the city's lakes, while dodging motorbikes a bit too frequently for our liking.
We also stopped by the Temple of Literature for a few pictures.
In the gardens, we checked out some turtle statues:
And one final shot of the two of us together, for good measure.
On our way home we were treated to an interesting surprise.
Now that is not something you see every day.
The next morning we set off on a 4-hour drive to the coast and Halong Bay. The popular tourist attraction is a series of small rock islands, creating many lagoons and caves and is considered one of the New Seven Natural Wonders of the World.
Most folks take an overnight cruise on a "junk" boat - which is an appropriate name for some of them, while others that have been restored quite nicely (like ours).
We weren't exactly roughing it.
In addition to our typical daily activities of relaxing...
And drinking...
...we took a kayak out to explore some of the caves and lagoons.
Quick aside: one of the hilarious parts of the boat cruise was what we called the "floating bodegas," because they were, well, essentially floating bodegas. The small, converted fishing boats would pull up next to the giant junk boats and sell everything you could find at a corner bodega: beers, cigarettes, gum, candy, snacks; and also items you would never want to find at a bodega, namely fresh fish and other treats from the sea. Impressive piece of entrepreneurship by these older Vietnamese ladies.
Anyways, back to the kayaking.
Just wanted to take a moment to compliment the excellent camera work by Alexis here, as this selfie was done with an old-school point-and-shoot digital camera without a front-facing screen. Cell phones have spoiled us...selfies are just too easy these days. Digression aside, we ventured into a cave, where the bats above were a bit too close for comfort, given that contracting rabies is probably our (or at least Mike's) biggest fear on this trip.
We also stopped at a series of caves. The sheer size was pretty impressive, although pretty much impossible to capture on camera.
If you used your imagination, you could make out cool images in the cave formations. Mike thinks this one looks like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man...
So maybe it's a bit of a stretch. The next one is a bit more obvious...any guesses?
In fact, this phallic formation was pretty much the only thing Alexis actually remembered from her Halong Bay trip four years ago.
The caves also provided a nice viewpoint to take in some of the sights from an elevated perspective (and by now you must know that we're suckers for landscape shots from above!).
When we weren't out on excursions, most of our time was spent sitting on the deck of the boat and taking in the beautiful sights around us.
While the sails were certainly impressive, we're pretty sure they were just for show, as there didn't seem to be much actual sailing going on.
And then it was time to head back to Hanoi, where we arrived on Halloween evening, which we celebrated without costumes, but with plenty of alcohol at Hanoi's famous beer corner.
This is a busy (motorbike) intersection, with bars at each of the four corners and down each street. As the night progressess, more and more seats are added in front of each bar and the intersection slowly shrinks. We tried really hard to get a good picture of the infamous, chaotic traffic, but it was surprisingly quiet that night. Maybe everyone was out with their kids trick-or-treating?
One of the great parts of Hanoi is their "bia hoi" - unpasteurized, unfiltered keg beer that is brewed locally and (supposedly) delivered every morning, tapped and then consumed until empty. Repeat the following day. Perhaps its best quality is the price...here is Mike drinking a 5,000 dong (Vietnamese currency) beer, which is the equivalent of about $0.23.
He claims it is the cheapest non-Happy Hour beer he has ever had and is only disappointed that he wasn't able to find one of the mythical Hanoi establishments where you can get bia hoi for 3,000 dong, or supposedly even 2,000 dong (9 cents!!!).
Finally, to conclude our two weeks in Vietnam, it was time for one last bowl of Pho, which we got at a small stand on a street corner.
It may have been the alcohol talking (or it could have been the fact they give you a huge bowl of fresh red chilis), but this may have been the best Pho we had. Certainly a good - and fitting - end to a wonderful time in Vietnam.
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