Hanoi

Flying into Hanoi was gorgeous! From the airplane I had amazing views of the rice paddies, punctuated by the people working them in their conical shaped hats, meandering streams, and lush mountains to the north. I thought Hanoi must be this wonderfully idyllic place. I had a driver pick me up from the airport and within about five minutes on the freeway my first impression went flying out the window. I got into the car to discover my twenty-something, Vietnamese driver has a penchant for really loud techno music which made getting into the city almost a surreal experience as we whizzed by hordes of people on scooters (sometimes riding by twos or threes, and often schlepping along miscellaneous things such as cages full of chickens, pigs, or construction materials). I did arrive at my hostel safely. I managed to pick a very colorful place to stay, a veritable backpacker central complete with a packed rooftop bar that serves up some very cheap (and horrid tasting) beer which I'm drinking only because I'm dying of thirst (I'm sure there's bottled water around here somewhere, but beer is much easier to find).

In the two hours I've been in Vietnam so far, I'm thinking that I will like it. I was a bit indifferent about China. It's a nice place with interesting things to look at, but it didn't rock my world, so to speak, (except for the Great Wall) and hopefully Vietnam will be a bit more spectacular. Speaking about worlds getting rocked, I managed to miss the typhoon that hit the region by about a day. Should be nothing but blue skies for me!