We finally arrived in Hanoi on the 23rd and were pleasantly surprised by the charming landscape on the drive into the city- rice paddies and water buffalo everywhere.

We spent a few days wandering around the old quarter. It was charming, dusty, dirty, noisy and very crowded. By the third day, Cheryl had grown a horn and learned to honk in several languages. Crossing the street was best done with closed eyes and a lot of faith. You just have to trust a person wearing a conical hat riding a cycle with three cages full of chickens.

We found Hanoi wonderful and trying. The constant harassment became quickly wearisome to say the least, but the food was phenomenal and the atmosphere unlike anywhere I had been before. We checked out a fancy hotel for tea, wandered around a temple on a little island in the middle of the city, and caught a water-puppet show. We also discovered what was to become one of our downfalls in Vietnam- our love of colourful silk lanterns!

It was International Women's Day and there were bright and beautiful flowers everywhere which really added to the flair of the city. On our first night, we met a guy we refer to as Pedro in Asia. Peter was a British bloke with a habit of getting too drunk to find his way back to his hotel. He was annoying but harmless, so we helped him out. As it turned out, he had that affect on a lot of people, so although he was at times trying, he brought around a lot of really great people. That really added to our experience in the city.

We used Hanoi as our home base and took a couple of three-day trips during our time there, but before we left the north for good, we had an important date to keep- Uncle Ho, in the flesh! We've now officially started our tour of dead fascist leaders, and I've now officially seen my first dead person!! We spent a whole 30 seconds being ushered like cattle through Ho Chih Minh's mausoleum. Cheryl got in trouble for whispering!! Be vewy, vewy quiet, we're hunting dictators.

Despite having a string of only so-so luck, we were generally having a good time. Vietnam was definitely starting to tire us out, and we were really looking forward to heading a little farther south. But we'll catch you up on our little trips up north first.