Day 2

10 Dec 2012 Mon

6.30am, the ipad mini made its morning call an hour too early because none of us thought of resetting the time to local time.

Breakfast was fantastic in the restaurant. Tasty pho, our first in Vietnam, set a golden standard for pho for  the rest of the holiday.

Hanoi is wide awake by sunrise

A well stocked provision shop

 We repacked for Sapa and checked out, to return on Friday. The weather was disappointingly warm at 29C and I was almost sorry we came. From the hotel, we went to Dong Xuan market (again! ) where our senses were assaulted  by the honking, horrific traffic and frenzy activity.

Every bread shop starts small, like this one.

Breakfast on the go.

Hanoi bustles into life by 7 am

Every square meter houses at least 2 businesses

Hanoi parking chaos

Christmas comes early to Vietnam. Craft street.

Flower on the go.

Shelling water chestnut is also a major business. Vietnamese rolls needs lots of this!

No weight restriction for this bike.

Specialized fruit stall - sells only pomeloes.

Have a pair of scissors? Start your instant barber shop now.

Bamboo street - I wonder who buys them ?

Vietnam is a young country and its workforce was in full steam, from selling to serving. Intimidated by the din, we walked south along Hang Duong to look for the east dragon gate. We gave low marks for the 'landmark' because it was so un-happening. Respite from the din and heat was coffee break - weasel coffee - at a road side al fresco stall, low stools and all. We concluded that weasel coffee was not kopi luwak!

Bambonambo noodles.

 Almost 11 am, we searched for the much acclaimed BamBoNamBo at Hang Dieu. There was only one kind of noodle dish which  we were served promptly. Noodles , beer and drinks came up to almost 200 000d. By now, I was  resigned to eating in filthy place with rubbish deliberately strewn around us.

We headed south to Hang Bac but not before passing the theatre and Hang Bo. P got himself a silk shirt at Thuy Ky Silk for $35. it wasn't exactly cheap but it fit him well and we did not bother to haggle over prices.

We went great heights for a mediocre cup of coffee.

But the view was great,if  only you can ignore the smoking by the tourists

Our afternoon tea place was at Café Lake View, a   rooftop  café that was only accessable via a spiral stair way. It provided a partial view of the lake and the 2 coffee and tea was a princely 70000 d. Oh well!

At Duc Loi silk, H had her measurements taken to make a black silk dress for $95 ( which needed  3 m of refined silk at $20/m ). We were to return on Friday to try out the dress. We left with 2 other silk blouses for ourselves, $15 each.

Down Hang Gai, we hit for Hang Bac and debated the merits of not changing our $ to VND.

Nem, hubby's new favorite Vietnamese snack

If  our hotel's pho is good, this is fantastic.

Unbelievable tofu can this so delicious.

 5 pm and totally exhausted, we had already shortlisted a shop at Ta Hien St where we would buy our silk back home. At $5/m, it would be the best price so far in hanoi.  Our very early dinner was at old quarter hotel. We had pho, fried rice, veg, beer,drinks, rolls, tofu for just $15. I concluded it was good value.

Our Livitrans train is one of many other trains, all bound for Sapa, powered by a common engine.What differed was the comfort and decor inside.

On board the VIP sleeper cabin. A long and narrow path to the washroom that was eqipped with hot water!

Our 10 min taxi ride to the station cost us 5000 d. As instructed by our Sapa hotel, the livitrans rep met us in front of  the station and passed tickets to us before running off. Train sp7 departed on the dot from platform 7 at 8.40pm, to our relief. We delighted in our first ever sleeper cabin, clowned around before the excitement of the day wore us out.