Hungry?

Hanoi
April 5, 2009
7:30am

Wandered the streets close to my hotel. "One Hour, One Hour, One Hour!" A local man yells on a bike with lounge seating attached. "No THanks" I say although being in something instead of walking maybe safer for me at this point with the motorcycles and bikes flying past me. With hardly any street lights or stop signs, I have already gotten hit today. Crossing the street rests on a wish and a prayer.
Hanoi is a vibrant city that is a visual overload to the senses. Everything is constantly moving and standing still does not seem to be an option. The mixing of the old and the new are apparent throughout the city. Temples, cars, bicycles with overflowing plants and herbs, thatched hats.

Food

I have been trying to eat a lot of local food while I am here. Mostly noodles so far. I really love it though because everything is so cheap. For lunch yesterday I had a huge bowl of Pho noodles and 2 local beers for about $5 USD. When I went to the outdoor market I was hit by the new and strange. I saw roasted dog, live huge toads, cages of Gigantic rabbits (that looked delicious I might say), eggs I have never seen, slugs, snakes, ect. It was an intense scene that I am going to go back to today. I may venture and try the dog.

I am going to see Ho chi Min's Mausoleum today and later see the water puppets which I hear is a favorite among the locals. Ill do this with some of the people that I met in my group, which numbers 12. We have a good mix from Aussie, UK, Sweden, and Nepal. I have to say though that I am a bit jealous of many of them. For the most part they are all on long trips like I am but most of them are a lot longer than the 3 months that I am doing. One girl is on an eight month trip. I knew that I didnt plan enough! damn.

O Well