First full day in Hanoi

All rested and ready to go, we go exploring the streets of Hanoi, guided only by the draw of street food as we make our way toward the large Hoan Kiem Lake in the center of Hanoi.

Peta wastes no time and tastes her first omelet with “water spinach”…

Hanoi’s cityscape is dotted by several lakes. Here,Hoan Kiem Lake which has a bit of a “Central Park” feeling

In the middle of the lake is the Ngoc Son Temple… Memorable for its location, but also for being Peta’s first temple visit…

The main room in the temple is CHOCKFULL of antiquities

Temples set aside, the inescapable first impression comes from the rush of motorcycle traffic.

The streets of Hanoi are full of surprises. Today’s surprise — a $1 shave in the street. Considering I was about to pay $40 in San Francisco’s Castro District, I think this would qualify as a good deal.

Another surprise is how much of the food culture is found, literally, “on the street” – The remnants of street culinary culture can be found in little piles of dishes on the sidewalk.

So… Hanoi so far equals Food, Temple, Food… must be time for another temple…

One surprising aspect of Hanoi is how much food there is EVERYWHERE and the fact that every food stall, restaurant, make shift sidewalk makeshift set up brings in customers. These people take their food very seriously! So this provides context for how much coverage there will likely be of food in this and future blog postings.