Hanoi

I can describe Hanoi with two words: motorcycles and silk. There are so many motorcycles it;s unbelievable. At the beginning I was terrified to cross the street. As in China, there are no "zebra crossings" and no yielding. Our tour guide, Mark gave us the best advice. He said to just walk and not stop. Don't even look. He says that's what the driver's expect, so as long as you do that, they will maneuver around you. In the other hand, if you freak out and stop or run you will confuse them and they can run you over. This tactic definitely works.

Jen and I basically did Hanoi by ourselves. Since most of the other travelers are doing around the world trips of 6-8 months, she and I were basically the only ones who could afford to go shopping. AND HOW MUCH SHOPPING THERE IS! Now, again, most sizes are tiny. The biggest shoe size is usually 8 and if you are lucky you might score a 9, but 10s are non-existent. You can also get clothes made for you, and that is the really cool part. There are thousands of shops that sell silk and have samples for you to try on.