Hanoi, Vietnam

So...Hanoi. I flew from chill Luang Prabang. Even the walk to board the plane was slow. I arrived to Hanoi's massive international, and after walking for a bit, got to customs. After handing over my visa papers I waited, and waited and waited. I saw how everyone else in my flight got their visa approved, I waited. I waited for an hour and a half, and finally, got my visa as well. Only God knows what happened. It worked out though, because I managed to catch a ride with a very nice Canadian guy, who I harrased a bit at the arrivals hall, in a desperate attempt to share the cost of the pricey ride to the city. We took Uber, and he didn't let me pay. Such a sweet guy; restored my good Karma with Canadians.
On our way to my hostel the uber driver almost hit a bike. It wasn't his fault. This happens all the time. THERE ARE SO MANY MOTORBIKES ON THE ROADS. AND THERE ARE NO RULES, WHATSOEVER. Everyone seems to be honking for no apparent reason,and red lights means nothing. People come from all directions in all imaginable means of transportation, simultaneously. The city itself is the most westernized I've been so far. It's super developed, with many many nice shopping and dining options. Feels very fast paced and busy.
As for sightseeing, first, I walked around the lake in Ho Hoan Kiem park. Many people seem to come out there to excersice in the morning. The work out routine of some Vietnamese older women, wearing wool sweaters for the ocassion, were very interesting to watch ;P
Later, I visited Ho Chi Min's complex, which includes a very nice park, the house where he lived (a small house indeed, as he felt that it wasn't fair for him to live in luxury while his people were struggling), where he worked, and hang out. And a very impressive mausoleum where, after abandoning all of your belongings outside and obeying the very strict guards around it, you can see late Ho Chi Min himself.
I then headed towards the army museum, and lastly, I went to Ho Lao prison. The latest remained from the time of French ruling over Vietnam. Here, they kept political priosioners and anyone who would attempt to rebel. Needless to say, it wasn't a happy place. It never ceases to amaze me the horrible things that we humans are capable of doing to each other. This prison was active until relatively recently (late 60') and was later used by Vietnamese themselves to imprision Americans during the Vietnam war. Gladly, that's past history for the peaceful (incredibly relentless) people of this country.
As for food, its a bit of a struggle for vegetarians to have local vietnamese food, especially from street stalls. The majority of typical popular dishes have some animal in it, most often pork. Nevertheless, I've had two of my top 3 dishes so far in SEA, here! The top three (as of today) are; Pad Thai from the ko phangan night market guy followed by Bun ney chay (rice noodles in a yummy broth and vegetable spring rolls), and bun dau (fried tofu and rice noodles in yummy broth), both from noodles&rolls in the old quarter in Hanoi.
I also managed to negotiate a mani-pedi for 5USD. Not too shabby for a first day in Vietnam :)
Tomorrow I head over to Sapa.Read more