travel journal: Hanoi 1

Into Hanoi a bit delirious, but safe and sound. A few highlights of the first day:

delicious Chinese dim sum on the dragonair flight
a huge tour group of caricature-like English couples (they all looked like characters from an episode of Wallace and Gromit) eagerly queueing at the Visa-upon-arrival window, despite our visas being returned in no particular order
non-existent airport pickup (had been advertised on the hotel-booking site)
entire families riding 4-up on a small scooter already laden with about 8 bales of hay (I am loving the endless permutations of scooter passengers and cargo).
adorable "honeymoon" welcome package from hotel including Vietnamese wine, a few pieces of fruit (the mango was gone very quickly), and the words "i love you" circumscribed by a heart, all laid out in rose petals on the bed
slightly confusing process of purchasing a cheap cell phone that will work throughout SE asia from a trendy mobile phone shop staffed entirely by tiny 16 year old (my surely inaccurate guess) girls (only one of whom spoke a very small amount of english). 500,000 Dong (~$23) later, we were able to successfully call our parents
a lazy hour spent sitting at the edge of Hoan Kiem lake, highlighted by a gregarious young local guy sitting himself down right next to us, eager just to spend the good part of an hour teaching us a few Vietnamese phrases, trading thoughts and questions about American and Vietnamese food, travel, weather, and a few other things that we could find a shared english vocabulary for. We're sad we didn't get a picture with Tuon (I'm missing an accent or two), but may look for him at the upscale Chinese restaurant that he works at.
Delicious dinner at Pho 24 - common chain in the region - the Pho was as good as any I've ever had, "broken rice" with shredded pork (delicious with the unnamed brown sweet/barbeque/soy sauce offered on the table), and a few spring rolls. All around $8 or so - we're looking forward to doing cheaper and dodgier, we passed a number of promising candidates.

That's about it for now! If you have the motivation and means to call us, as far as I can tell, our number is: +011 84 1636143499.