Hot in Hanoi

Apparently we are in SE Asia. This morning it is warm. Or rather, it is hot and humid at 9am. Elyse assures me that it will not get any hotter today. This assurance is hot air, so to speak.
On our first day we relearned how to cross the street. Rather than look left, then right, you look left then right then left then right then left. Anyhow, we've got it down to a science.

The highlight of the day was our trip to the Museum of Ethnography. We hopped on the #14 bus headed west - I am sure we would've paid the 20 cent fare for the A/C alone. After help from the bus driver, a guy on the street, the fruit seller, and a woman on the street, we found our museum. The displays on many of the ethnic groups in Vietnam, the Hmong among them, were captivating, but the real treat lay behind. Here, nestled right up to tenements and shops on the other side of a bamboo fence, were tribal houses from five villages rebuilt in the middle of Hanoi. The best by far was a communal building used by the Bahran people, which was easily 70 feet high and built without a screw or a nail. Pictures to come.


The rest of our adventures today included a failed trip to the Laos embassy (we will more or less fail again tomorrow - stay tuned!) and a conversation with a woman selling plane tickets to Laos, who was either "hungry" for our business or thought we'd be "angry" if we didn't buy her tickets and the flight sold out (this will be the least of our communication difficulties - stay tuned!).

We braved an afternoon downpour to purchase tickets for the water puppet show, which we took turns sleeping through later that evening, despite firecrackers going off, splashing water puppets, and loud traditional Vietnamese music. At least we can say we were there, even if we don't have much in the way of an opinion about the show. Not loud enough, maybe.

Next stop, Ha Long Bay.