Hanoi, Vietnam. What a stark change to what we had become accustomed to, weather wise. From temperatures in the mid nineties to mid forties in the space of a one and a half hour flight. Two days prior to our arrival I had checked on the weather forecast in Hanoi and it was 78 degrees, but a large portion of Asia (most of China) is experiencing an extremely cold winter. It was early evening when we arrived at our hotel only to find the description on the internet site bore no resemblance to what we were presented with. We had booked a large comfortable deluxe room with large windows and a balcony. What we got was a back alley backpacker's bed and breakfast place, cramped room with a small window and no balcony. Add to that it was very cold. We were forced to stay there that first night, due to not knowing where we were in the city. Fortunately we did have WiFi and made a reservation at a much better hotel for the following day. So after breakfast we secured a taxi and sped off to another part of the city. This time we were not disappointed with the hotel. During the next two days we ventured out into the cold to explore. This is the first time since we have been in Asia that we had worn fleece jackets and we were wondering why we left our sunny beaches in Phuket. Hanoi was just the first stop and our initial entry point into Vietnam. This is our view of Hanoi from our balcony on the 13th floor. The Red River is in the background.



 Due to time and the climate our exploration of the city was limited, we saw a mix of old and new buildings, sites of interest and the preparations for the New Year celebrations which take place in February. They decorate their homes with orange trees and we saw them being transported in the quickest possible way!




I think I can say that we were both happy to board the plane to fly us to Nha Trang, a very popular seaside resort in the southeast, which is where we are at present. As you can see, the weather is more like what we're used to!



Unfortunately during our week in Bangkok, Rita contracted sinus and flu like symptoms which were not helped during our first cold night in Hanoi and steadily have gotten worse and now I have the same symptoms. So we have become a couple of sickies trying to get better fast.

Having not found what we were looking for in Nha Trang we have decided to treat ourselves to a vacation. In two days we leave on a 4 day tour of the Highlands, visiting a variety on places inland and ending down in the southwest coast. Once there we will take a two hour speedboat ride over to the island of Phu Quoc where we will spent the next 14 days relaxing on the beach and diving offshore amoung some of the beautiful coral beds.

So let the adventure continue. I'm sure Rita will write several  updates along the way.

 

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