Pho dinner!

We just got home from one week in northern Vietnam. I'm going to try to catch up on the blog before we forget everything that happened. I tried to blog while in Hanoi, but every time I did, the software opened in Vietnamese and I couldn't figure out a way to switch it back to English.

We flew from Singapore to Hanoi last Friday afternoon. It's only a 3-hour flight, so it was an easy trip. (If you move to SE Asia on this map you will see some labels of places we went.)


View Vietnam trip in a larger map

After checking into the hotel we took care of the most important thing - dinner. A student from the National University in Hanoi took us to eat pho at a nearby shop.

It was amazing - broth delicately flavored, noodles cooked to perfection, and beef thinly sliced and medium rare. And of course we washed it down with a cold beer. You gotta love Vietnam.

After dinner we walked around Hoah Kiem lake, in the center of the Old Quarter. We watched the young people zooming past in their packs of scooters, riding 2 and 3 per bike. We saw couples young and old making a circuit of the lake or sitting on benches, enjoying the show. The lake is lit at night in a colorful display of lights. With this being the 1000th anniversary of Hanoi's founding, they say the city is extra-exciting this year.