It seems to rain a lot here

This is a picture of Thap Rua in the middle of Hoan Kiem lake, in one of the brief moments when it wasn't raining on the weekend.
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I've been in Hanoi for a couple of days now and it seems to have rained for at least 50% of the time since I arrived. It's a bit of a shock after Da Nang where it really hasn't rained for months. One good thing is that it's got a lot cooler with the rain so you don't sweat so much. Not that you sweat much in the aircon in the hotel which is where I've spent a lot of the last two days, enjoying the space and the comfortable bed.

The old quarter in Hanoi is really cute. It's a hotchpotch of buildings on little windy streets that are full of people all the time. I thought that it was crowded during the day but that is nothing compared to at night when the Vietnamese come out to play. The streets are the narrowest I've seen in a city in Vietnam but they seem to still drive cars down them along with the bikes and cyclos. Sometimes passing seems to involve a lot of backing up and moving things around to make space.

Traffic in the Old Quarter at night. The area really picks up after dark when the Vietnamese come out to play.
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The hotel, Elegance 2, is really lovely. It's relatively new so it has nice bathrooms and good facilities including a lift which makes getting the 25 kg suitcase to my room much easier. I would have felt guilty if one of the staff had to carry it up five flights of stairs. Each room has its own computer which is wonderful. And that innerspring mattress was so so good. My back feels better already. We had foam mattresses at the house in Da Nang and after 1 month my mattress had a huge permanent indent in the middle of it and I still had to sleep on it for the next 3 months.

There are lots of women wandering the streets of the Old Quarter carrying these baskets and selling all sorts of things.
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I've found lots of good places to eat here in Hanoi, though, it is definitely more expensive than Da Nang or even Hoi An. The Tamarind Cafe is really nice and it's great to get a good feed of vegies in meat obsessed Vietnam. It's also nice to not eat rice for a couple of days. Today I had lunch at a place called Papa Joe's Coffee and it was really good. Nice snacky food. Sandwiches and soup and that sort of thing. Just what I felt like. Unfortunately it's not open for dinner.

I haven't done much sight seeing yet because of the rain. I walked around the lake for a while yesterday in a brief rain free moment and it's really pretty. Unfortunately, because of the buildings in the background, it loses some of its beauty in the photographs. There were lots of people around so I didn't go into the temple in the middle of the lake. I'll try that later in the week when there are less tourists around. Tomorrow I'm going to Hoa Lu and Tam Coc tomorrow on a tour so it'll be nice to get out of the city. Wednesday, I'm going to the Perfume Pagoda which is meant to be lovely, though, quite a hike up the hill.

This is the other 191 La Thanh, the one that isn't the Russian Embassy!
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Tuesday I have to sort out more visas for the rest of my trip. I attempted to sort out my Russian visa on Friday and it was a total debacle. I got into a cyclo to go to the Embassy which is listed as 191 La Thanh St. We meandered through the streets of Hanoi, which was quite nice in itself, before arriving at 191 La Thanh St which is a metal work place. The cyclo driver was definitely confused as to why I would want to go to this place. So I rang the embassy and asked them what their address is and they assured me that it was 191 La Thanh St. I got them to explain to the driver how to get there and off we set again. About 20 minutes later we arrived at the other  191 La Thanh St, which was about 400 building further up the street at the end of the 900 street numbers. Now why do you think that they would have two buildings with the same number. Is it just the Russians trying to confuse American spies or are they just being perverse? I arrived just as they were closing the consular section but the very helpful woman there stayed open for me only to tell me that I didn't have the right paperwork so I couldn't get a visa anyway. Not that I could have paid for it anyway because they don't accept dong or credit cards, only cold hard US cash. I thought that we had moved on into the new millenium but obviously not in embassy world. So after some frantic emailing, the correct paperwork is being sent from Russia so that I can hopefully get the visa this week. So if anyone reading this is planning on applying for a Russian visa in Vietnam you have to have an original copy of your letter of introduction with both a stamp and a signature to get a visa. Faxed and emailed copies are fine in other countries but not accepted here. You can however get the visa in one day if you are willing to pay enough US cash.

I'll write again soon and try to put some new photos up on the web soon. Hope all are well.

Zoe