HANOI

FRIDAY 13th

5.15am check out and a fairly quick drive to the airport with our Liverpudlian friends leaving Ken and Liz to spend the day in Bangkok. Through security etc. we found it was a long walk to our departure gate E2A and so there would have been no way we would have caught our connecting flight even if the pilot had made up some of the time.

On our arrival in Hanoi we made our way to the visa application desk, being one of the first in the queue. After handing over the paperwork and our passports we were asked to walk to the other end of the building and pay the cashier 25$ each and await the return of our passports. We had great fun in helping the official identify the owners of the passports from the photos! Next we wanted to change some of our US dollars into the local currency, namely the dong. I am now married to a millionaire!

In the concourse representatives from Kuoni were waiting but on checking their lists found we did not exist. "Could this be because we were supposed to arrive yesterday?" Hurray they found us. We joined the group staying at 'The Sheraton Hotel' and were told we would be taken on to 'The Horrison'. As their rep gave the usual briefing and informed them that their tour would begain at 3pm this afternoon she asked "What would we be doing?" "You tell me" was my reply. After a while she informed us that our group was at a museum and would we like to join them. "Yes please" and on arrival at The Museum of History we joined our group for the last 15 minutes at noon. They had had 2 hours and told us we had not missed anything as the first place they visited was closed. (I already knew that from the guide book as it stated that Ho Chi Minh House closed in October and November for cleaning).

The next destination was the 'Temple of Literature' and dedicated to Confuscious. Built in the Chinese style we wandered around the complex jast as the warm sun came out.

Lunch was taken across the road in a small restaurant where for 600$ a month we could sponsor a cookery student. The food was excellent in presentation and taste. I saw the students even ran the bar on the second floor.

By now it was mid afternoon and we were to see a 'Water Puppet Show.' Outside the theatre Hao, our guide, introduced us to a high ranking member of Asian Trails who wanted full details of our overnight stay in Bangkok. No on had realised there was still 2 more people to join the group and so there was even more concern as to why they had not been on our flight. It was full, that was why. So we entered the theatre, after Keith had paid 60,000 dong to use his video, just as the show started. To the left of the stage was the orchestra and 2 female singers. Directly in front was a square lake with a low bamboo screen falling to the level of the water. From behind the bamboo panels puppets on long poles represented people and dragons enacting out several scenes of Vietnamese country life. Luckily the music was loud because I kept nodding off along with our Liverpudlion trio sitting next to us. It wasn't that we were bored - we were just tired.

The last item on the agenda was an hour's ride in a cyclo. Sitting in a single seater rickshaw we were pedaled round the French and old part of the city of Hanoi - in rush hour. I bet the drivers of the hundreds of scooters and cars blessed the 23 carriages following each other in single file. We had started out from the Opera House in daylight and finished in the dark, the city becoming illuminated. Fun, but the fumes got to all of us and we wondered how these men could do this job day in and day out without affecting their health. Hao had told us the amount we should tip (30,000 dong) but Keith's man wanted 10$ and mine was not too happy either.

At last we reached our hotel, which was lovely, and after a good meal in their restaurant it was time for bed. We were departing at 8.15am tomorrow for Halong Bay.