Hanoi, why you gotta be so rainy all the time? (READ THIS BEFORE HALONG BAY POST!!!)

Smooth sailing getting out of Hoi An, except that the flight we were booked on didn't exist that day. We got the next flight (Hoàn had organized/confirmed all of this, and advised us the morning that we left of the new departure time), but no-one informed our tour guide in Vietnam's capital city (Hai, who is tied with Sunny for the best tour guide EVER!!!), and as a result Hai waited at the airport forgery hours before we finally met him. Hanoi was cold (17 degrees) and raining, which is what I had expected due to my research. Turns out that Hanoi was having an awesome (unseasonably warm and dry) winter before we arrived - it was the first day of rain and colder temperatures LOL

Hai recommended the best spot in Hanoi for phó bó (Vietnamese beef noodle soup) and it was SO GOOD that we ate there three separate times. We were never disappointed, and the price couldn't be beat (55,000 dong per bowl of phó, which equates to roughly $4 CAD)!

On day 9 of the stomach bug from hell, I was feeling my old self again, and celebrated that evening by enjoying some 2 for 1 ciders at Polite Pub, with some Americans that we had met at BeBe in Hoi An. But first...

We toured around Hanoi during the rainy day, with nary a care in the world because we had our Patagonia shells, which serve as the outer layer if our winter jackets ;)

We got driven around the Old Quarter by two gentlemen that should have been retired, not pedalling tourists around (!), visited the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum (widely adored by the Vietnamese, "Uncle Ho" brought freedom to Vietnam, until the French and Americans decided that wouldn't work for them and broke several United Nations treaties to bomb the crap out of the country. His body is extremely well preserved, and the Mausoleum is closed for two months out of the year so that the embalmer can work his magic. Seriously, it looks like he's just sleeping, not like he's been dead since 1969), the Museum of Ethnology, aaaaaaaand then we got stuck in traffic. The goal was to send a box home, seeing as Ryan and I were already too close to our 20kg limit (each) to continue traveling for another three weeks, but due to the ridiculous traffic, we were late getting to the Water Puppet performance. Thank God for Hai, since we could NOT have navigated the Vietnam postal service without him (DHL was too expensive/too quick, and there was no FedEx to be found)!!!

Arrived to the performance fifteen minutes late, but it was so lovely that we enjoyed every minute of the live music and literal puppets in water. Those puppeteers don't mess around! During the performance, we noticed a couple that we had met while I was having my first fitting at BeBe in Hoi An - from Oregon and travelling with their 13-month old daughter that was the highlight of wherever they went ;) we decided to go for Polite Pub's happy hour, which I had found during my research. I was a little scared that sugary drinks (2 Recordelic ciders) would not mix well with my newly re-acquired bowel function, but Ryan assured me that there was more sugar in the three glasses of juice I consumed that morning with breakfast. He was right: no adverse effects and we're still going strong today :D

We stayed at the Apricot Hotel, which is the second fanciest hotel we've ever stayed in (the first being the Fairmount Royal York), but there breakfast buffet was seriously lacking. I stuck with fruit, croissants, and phó and had no problems. My motto is: have phó, will eat!

Next up: the magnificence of Halong Bay

The lobby of the ultra-fancy Apricot Hotel, where we stayed

Vietnam telecom

Yes, she is carrying these on a push bike

Got caught trying to sneak a photo!! :/

That's the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum behind us

The roots of the 'Buddha Tree', which grow UP from the ground 

Wrong angle, but this is the Temple of Literature that is shown on the 100,000 dong note (equivalent of just under $6 CAD)

We loved the story of the Turtle and the Phoenix: when Vietnam was flooded, the Turtle gave the Phoenix a landing pad. When Vietnam experienced extreme drought, the Phoenix carried to Turtle to where there was water. It's a story about friendship!! :)

 The "town hall" (meeting place) for some of Vietnam's ethnic tribes. Those stairs were scary on the way down!

....why did they carve him which so much shame????

Our favourite place in Hanoi <3