Sunday 11 October

Following breakfast, we were bused to the Old Quarter for a half hour cyclo ride through the streets. At times it was quite hairy but we all survived.

Our guide Sonny then took us for a walking tour of the area, pointing out anything of interest. Many of the streets were initially established with only one particular product for sale in that street but over time and the French occupation and then Communism it had transformed into a hotchpotch market place. You can tell who the wealthy are by the fact that if the building is all one colour, then it is owned by one family. Different colours then multiple owners. Many houses are very narrow and go very deep. the closer to the street front, the more expensive. Some places have no natural light as they are way at the back of the building. You certainly can buy almost anything here but I'd never be game to buy any food asair-conditioning is non existent.

Spices are very popular. Star anise is used a lot and Vietnam exports much of its cardamom to China and India.

Sunny takes us into a temple where he tells the story of the white horse. The chieftain wanted to build a fortress wall but it kept falling down. They ask went to pray in the temple for a strong wall that would protect them. After praying they followed a horse that led them around the perimeter and where the horse walked, they built the fortress wall and it kept them safe.

Time to get back on the coach. we drive alongside a mosaic wall which when it is finished in 2 years time will be 10 kilometres long (a world record already).

We then stop by the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum complex.We have seen a lot of young women in long white dresses. apparently this is meant to be a very attractive look, so they are all taking photos of themselves. Not sure what they do with the photos, but I figure it is the Vietnamese version of a dating app! We also see a group of more mature aged women all doing the same thing so clearly photographers are in high demand here.

The guards in white uniforms at the entrance to the mausoleum have to stand to attention for their 1 1/2 hour shifts. They fill this role for 2 years and at the end can choose what job they would like as reward for their service (from a list supplied by the government). 2 years military service is compulsory here for men aged between 18 and 25 or (27 if attending university or higher education). Time to get back on the coach and we now head for the Temple of Literature.

There are a lot of high school students having graduation photos taken even though graduation is usually in May, but it is too hot then! School here is 7 days a week and education is highly regarded.

Our lunch venue is a short walk from the Temple of Litetature. It was a lovely meal at KOTO which stands for Know One Teach One, founded by an Australian man and his Vietnamese wife to empower at risk and disadvantaged local youth to provide them with training in hospitality. R and B came and sat with us and we had the pleasure (?) of also sharing our table with Lindsay (who got hit by a motor bike the moment he arrived on the first afternoon) and his wife Colleen. They are from north Queensland too, and I'm now seeing a trend of poor social niceties being displayed by these local yokels. C really got on my nerves complaining that there was no duck in the entree she ate. It was a share platter for the table and if she said it once, she said it 6 times and after that I stopped counting as I wasn't sure I would be able to hold my tongue much longer to tell her to shut the **** up about the bloody duck! She pushed all Julie's buttons with all the food she did consume, having gone back for seconds or thirds on each subsequent dish and not passing plates to J. There are about 36 in our group so surely we can avoid them for future close contacts! Lunch over and time to get back on the coach to drive the short distance to our hotel where we have the afternoon free. J and I have booked for the optional Water puppet show which was due to start at 3.30 but is now an hour later as there is a special viewing by government dignitaries which has bumped us out. So down to the lobby and it a small van as there are 10 of us doing this tour. Sunny is an excellent guide and takes us for a wander through the area. It is an amazing sunset.

10 October was 70 years since they kicked the French out so there are festivals snd celebrations happening near the lake. People everywhere! We then get to the theatre for the Water Puppet show. The concept started with workers in the rice fields,coming up with puppetry in the water for a bit of entertainment. It was very clever, colourful and entertaining. Not keen on the local music and singing but it is authentic so I'm not complaining, just not a fan.

Time now for the street food walking tour. So many different shops.

Suffice to say, we didn't go into any of these but Sunny explained that many locals do not have actual kitchens in their homes so buying their food pre cooked 'fresh' each time is cheap and all they have to do is potentially heat it up in a microwave. Sunny showed us 'sexy chicken' which sounded really absurd until he explained that the dressed up chicken was a temple offering and was later able to be eaten. A normal chicken might cost about $7 AU, but these particular ones were about $20 as they were free range. Hilarious!

Our first stop for the street food sampling was pork in rice wrapper and pork cake. Not a huge fan but it was okay.

More wandering,taking in all the sights.

We then stopped at a bar and sat out on the pavement for a Hanoi beer, but I had a no sugar Coke. Sunny took a photo of us all but hasn't sent it on yet. Next stop was for barbecue pork (which J had) or prawn and fish cake, which I had. Really good too!

And still we haven't finished because we now head to the original Egg coffee house. I was happy to have a lemon water but J tried the egg coffee made with the egg yolk and said it was quite good.

Back on our van and a final photo stop moment of the train line at night.

Back to the hotel for a much needed shower and time for bed. We have a fairly early start in the morning as we farewell Hanoi and head to Halong Bay. The tour has gotten off to a great start (albeit that the list of people to be avoided is growing rapidly) so am optimistic that it is a sign of good times ahead.