Vietnam Day 2: 5:30pm

Sunday 2007/10/28 5:30pm

We just got back from walking around the city all day. Crossing the streets takes a little getting used to, but isn't too bad. The traffic seems chaotic but people are good at avoiding obstacles. It's a little disconcerting when there's no sidewalk and you have to walk in the street, but we've survived so far.

We had pastries and coffee from the supermarket for breakfast and decided to get our bearings in Hanoi by walking around. We made a circle around our hotel and stopped at a few places along the way. One shopping center was particularly useful - we bought gifts for the orphanage officials and were able to get them gift-wrapped. We also got some souvenirs to bring home. After shopping, we went back to the hotel and had lunch.

We decided that we needed to identify some other places where Dad would be able to find something he liked to eat; otherwise we'd have all our meals at the hotel. So we went out again and found a number of places with Western food. We stopped at the Paris Deli for some ice cream and coffee (Mom was able to order an American coffee, which she appreciated). Then we walked back to the hotel, stopping at a few bookstores along the way.

Even though we didn't stray too far from the hotel, we have a better idea of what's around. We enjoyed our day of exploring the city.