I ordered an omelette but got a banana pancake with honey for breakfast which was quite good. Then I got the omelette and the hotel cook knocked over my coffee - it made a mess but I was unscathed. As most museums are closed Monday, today was the day to explore the Old Quarter and to search out rain gear which I left at home with last minute rearrangements. I had prepared a nice walking guide which didn't serve much purpose since I started in the middle and ended up going backwards. I went to Hoan Kiem Lake, visited the pagoda there and bought tickets for the Water Puppets show. Hoping for 6 PM, I could only get tickets for 9:15 PM. More sights and sounds of the Old Quarter best described in pictures with a visit Hang Do market first off. The ongoing stress of trying to cross streets and dodge the traffic really became taxing. Not knowing Vietnamese is also wearing. Even when one tries to say something, the people just look and smile and seem not understand at all, If I show them a word in my phrase book and they say it, it doesn't sound much different that what I thought I was saying, but no luck. I found one of the traditional Hanoi coffee cafes and stopped in there mid morning and ended up talking with a young couple from Italy at the next table who came in shortly after me. So, my food ended up on their check and they treated me - what a nice thing to do. Continued on and ended up in at Dong Xuan market, the largest market, and a large wholesale market. There was so much stuff there! I thought I would find a jacket, but that was hopeless, found a place with umbrellas so got one for $2 (where is the 99cent store when you need them).

I think for this one the happy pineapple lady selling pineapple says it it all -so how much pineapple do you think I had to buy and how many bananas from the friends?

Continuing on my trek, constantly being accosted for rides on cyclos and mopeds, walked through the streets where shoes were sold. (Each street has its own set of merchandise). Now I was accosted by show repairmen who would come up with a bottle of glue and a pair of replacement sandals, bend over and start to put glue on my perfectly intact sandals. That was a new one.

I could not find a jacket. Feeling frustrated and heading back to my hotel, I was walking up a street that also served as a moped parking lot when I was offered a T shirt for sale, which I didn't want. One of the women there spoke very good English and when I told her what I wanted, she said she had one and left and came back with three pretty nice light weight wind breakers, hopefully water repellant. I liked the Nike one, but she wanted to charge me much more than the same thing would cost in the U.S. I got her down 50% which was about 50% more than I thought I should pay, but I was tired and feeling hopeless and helpless. So after turning the next corner, the one street I had missed was the jacket street. I didn't look at the jackets closely, but went back to the hotel. I told the very nice and helpful receptionist about my journey-she told me what she thought the jacket was worth, even less than I first offered and said had she known she would have gone shopping with me. So then I had to go the bank to exchange some more money before it closed and as I rounded the corner a block away from the hotel there was an inexpensive jacket hanging in the door of a store, price marked just what she said

So when I got back, this lovely receptionist ( her husband is the manager) invited me to join the staff for dinner tonight. Turns out they made this lovely dinner for about eight of us staying here, complete with Vietnamese red wine. That was really nice. Seems like most people I run into are from Australia or New Zealand (and that goes for the dinner party) except one couple from Toronto. The man is Vietnamese, left in 1975 and this is his first trip back. We had spring rolls, fish, cucumbers, a meat and vegetable dish, and morning glory soup,

Then a 10 minute walk back to the theater. I had a good seat in the third row. It was a 45 minute performance and while short, very entertaining. Seemed like a good time to try a cyclo ride (bicycle taxi) back to the hotel as fellow travelers said few people were out at that hour. It turns out they were wrong and lots of people were out. The cyclo ride while sort of fun while it lasted turned out not to be such a good idea - the driver way overcharged me a lot and while I was trying to get some money out, he grabbed me and started to grab money from my wallet. He didn't get any but the excess amount in my hand. I was really upset and by the time I got into the lobby of the hotel he was gone.

I am now back in the room, ready to depart 8 AM tomorrow for Halong Bay and then right after that for my trek and time up at Sapa. So I won't be at the computer for about a week. Looking forward to these next adventures!