Hanoi, Vietnam

Keels and I made it out of Laos safely. It was actually an interesting affair for the past couple of days. Vang Vien, although beautiful and fun, was like a sick backpackers quarantine. I would estimate that over 50% of the travelers there were sick, had "pink-eye", or both. The pink-eye came from the bacteria in the river mud/water, then was spread due to the close living and partying conditions. The people with pink-eye looked miserable, as their eyes were swollen shut, full of puss, and they couldn't see anything. Friggin gross... Keels and I took many precautions: Didnt touch our eyes or face, used hand sanitizer religiously, and even purchased conjunctivitis ("Pink-Eye") eye drops as a preventative measure. As we got further from Van Vien we started feeling safer, like we had escaped from a prison of disease, and slowly letting our guard down. But every time we started getting comfortable, we would run into a group of travelers with pink-eye....and guess where they came from...Vang Vien. Even here in Hanoi, Vietnam...many miles away, we are still running to folks...so for the time being still on guard!

We flew from the capital of Laos (Vientiene) to the capital of Vietnam (Hanoi). This made travel and obtaining Visa's easier. The choice was a 25-30hr bus ride (when I say bus, I mean many non-air conditioned buses) or a 1 hr flight...Keels and I chose the latter for obvious reasons. Driving through Hanoi was a spectacle, as there are so many people here, and their life is in the streets. Crossing the streets is an Art in confidence and faith (see this video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC4BN9kInXg). We ended up at this well known backpackers hostel in the middle of the city which is supposed to be a plethora of information. It was filled with tourists, but was well run and super clean! We ate at a little street vendor who was serving a noodle and "meat" ball soup. We tried to ask what kind of meat the "meat" was (due to the fact that they eat dog here), and all we could get was a smile when we waved our arms and "bwaked" like chickens. Hmm didnt really taste like chicken but oh well, I hope for the best.

A sign next to the bar

The group getting moved down the alley

In the alleyway next to our hostel, there was a small bar serving $0.25 draft beers, so we decided to get a few with an English guy that we met on the bus. It turned out that Hanoi has a sort of curfew at around 11pm, that noone told us about... the police came down the street and the all of a sudden, the bar owners and workers had the place cleaned, cleared, and shut down in about 30 seconds flat. He then told everyone to hide their beers?!? We (along with about 30 other tourists in the alley) "hid" our beers and just kind of looked at the police as they spoke to the bar owner. I'm not sure what the bar owner told them (I suppose he told them that we were not drinking...maybe he told them we were gathered out there "reading" or "star gazing")...but the police left and within 30 seconds the bar was back together and $.025 beers flowing. We went through this dance a few more times, and the bar owner kept on moving the group (chairs and all) down the alley away from his bar, but still running drinks over to us... I'm guessing to keep the noise down from around his establishment and maybe trick the police???... Anyhow it was an interesting evening.
Oh yeah... the currency here is "Dong", and I currently have about 4,000,000 dong in my pocket (roughly $200.00), so technically I am a millionaire :-)