Budget: 1,200k Dong/$60; Spent: 1,210k Dong/$60
Jeff here.
What a lovely city Hanoi is. This is our ninth day here and we have yet to tire of it. We slept in a bit this morning and got down for our included breakfast around 10:00am. The breakfast was quite tasty, but not overly large. After this we left the hotel for the street and shops of Hanoi. We had decided the night before that we were going to buy Mary and Peter, the managers of the Hanoi Lucky Guesthouse, a gift for their unborn baby boy. They have been so sweet and so kind to us that our decision to buy them a gift was an easy one.
Turns out that there are a lot of shops for babies in the Old Quarter. Still, it wasn't until mid-afternoon that we found a set of three jumpers that we were happy with. Along the way, Patty bought a bra and I looked for some linen pants. Sadly, I'm still pantless.
We grabbed lunch at a cafe called Joma Bakery. We had chili and lasagna and both were very nice. We decided that we would have to come back tonight to do some research on India and pick up something tasty!
We then purchased a card from a deaf kid who was raising money for a charity for deaf children. Anyway, I hope that's all true. Regardless, the card was nice and we are happy with it. Unfortunately, when we got to the Lucky Guesthouse, Mary and Peter had left for the day! So, we didn't get to say good-bye or give them their gift! To top it off, they had invited us for breakfast in the morning and we hadn't gone because we had wanted to give them the gift when we went to see them. Really a shame. Doesn't feel right not saying goodbye. Lack of closure, I guess.
After this, we decided to eat dinner and then do some India research. We went to a restaurant called Banh Ghoi. The restaurant serves all kinds of pork in pastries of various shapes and sizes. Yes, it was street food and yes, it was damn good. Our favourite reminded us of a cross between my mom's meat pies and Patty's mom's fried tacos. Delicious!
From here, we wandered aimlessly for almost an hour searching for the Joma Bakery. Finally, Patty remembered that she had grabbed a business card earlier in the day and it had the address on it! Thank goodness, because we had lost all hope by that point.
We made it there no problem and ordered a banana split. Best banana split ever. Here's a pic:
We did a little research on India and booked a hotel in New Delhi for the two days after staying with Mintoo's family. Turns out there is more for us to see there than we thought. Many people have told us that we wouldn't want to spend much time in Delhi, but I think the shopping alone will probably consume two days. I WILL find linen pants. I'm on a mission.
Tomorrow we're off to Bangkok! Taxi picks us up at 6am (boo!), so time for bed.
Good night!
Dad here, good you enjoyed Hanoi, however a few pictures there would have been appreciated. is anyone there preparing for Xmas? Good luck finding linen Pants.
ReplyDeleteJeffy,Patty,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad today to hear after a week-long black-out in communications that you guys are still well and were presumably just out of internet contact. Can't wait to get the updates for the last week. Sounds like a great time!
Chris