Hanoian Evening

We spent the afternoon and evening exploring Hanoi and its Old Town. Actually, I spent the afternoon catching Grab taxis on failed errands for moto gear and phone sims all over the city. Nancy, Don, and Mary spent the afternoon getting lost on the way to and the way back from a water puppet show where Nancy was able to extend her 'blur' photography portfolio. We met for our first banh mi sandwich before continuing our walk into the evening.

After watching Don and Mary finish their gelatos we headed to the famous Hanoi Beer Corner. Beer corner was just getting started, but we did get to witness a beer cheerleading squad.
Beer Corner video:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/DVegn5anZtqWD4jaA

Don and Mary retired for the night and Nancy and I continued our walk to Hoàn Kiếm lake. The lake is at the center of north Vietnamese culture as it is the place where the metal to forge a famous sword was given to the king to defend the homeland. The turtle god then asked for the sword back when the king was finished with it. Hoàn Kiếm is also a center for Hanoian nightlife. People stroll its shores much like an evening promenade around the zocalo in Mexico. It seemed that every few steps we ran into people practicing dance steps, jumping rope, playing jenga, or singing pop-up karaoke.

Here are a couple of video links from our stroll.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/d5f2pxoNh1votApa8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZyzoVVfFoqcwQrQL9Read more